This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s full coverage of and about Apple’s annual developer conference.
The time has come for Apple to stop supporting the iPhone 6S, iPhone SE and iPhone 7 with new updates to its iOS software. On Monday, Apple ended iOS 16, the next major release of its iPhone software, during the start of WWDC 2022, the company’s annual developer conference. The latest update adds new features, such as the ability to edit messages you’ve already sent to the Messages app, new tools to personalize your iPhone, such as the ability to customize the look of the lock screen, and new Automation for sharing images in photo libraries with friends.
Now playing: look at this: look at everything that’s being announced at Apple’s WWDC 2022 event
14:37
But all these treats will only be available to people with the iPhone 8 and later. This means that phones introduced in 2016 or earlier will no longer receive software updates from Apple. This is not an unexpected move, as Apple regularly removes software support on older devices.
To be clear, your old device and all your applications should continue running for the time being, even without the update of all the shiny new features. But since you won’t receive any new iOS software updates, this could leave your device vulnerable to hackers and malware, as the software updates also include bug fixes.
Apple may continue to offer some security updates to these older devices, as it does with some older iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 devices. But even if it does, updates are likely to only include critical vulnerabilities and may still leave devices open to attack. To stay up to date with all these potential vulnerabilities and see what security updates are available to you, be sure to keep an eye on Apple security updates.
For more information, read everything Apple announced at WWDC 2022. This includes WatchOS 9, MacOS Ventura, and a MacBook Air M2.