We’re not looking forward to iOS 16 for long yet, and Apple will likely announce the software at WWDC 2022 in June and then release it alongside the iPhone 14 in September, but we’ll know which phones will get the update.
That’s thanks to a source who spoke to French site iPhoneSoft, who claims that the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, and the original iPhone SE won’t get iOS 16.
They also add that iPadOS 16 will not be coming to the iPad mini 4, iPad Air 2, iPad 9.7 (2017), iPad Pro 9.7 (2016) or iPad Pro 12.9 (2015). This appears to be a chipset limitation, and they point out that only devices with an A10 or newer chipset will get iOS 16 or iPadOS 16.
However, it’s worth noting that they seem safer from the iPhone list than the iPad, saying that for the latter it’s just “likely” that they won’t get iPadOS 16.
In all cases, we would take this with a pinch of salt, especially so far since the release of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, but supposedly this source is a developer working for Apple, so if anyone knows, they should.
Then again, so far from launch, anything could change, so even if this is the current plan, it might not be for June or September.
Analysis: Apple will probably stop supporting these devices
While we can’t be sure this leak is accurate, we do expect Apple to stop supporting some devices this year.
Surprisingly, several generations of software have passed since Apple last stopped supporting an iPhone, with the release of iOS 13, which removed support for the iPhone 6 range and iPhone 5S.
So removing support for devices like the iPhone 6S is overdue, as that phone has received six major software updates. The original iPhone SE is in the same boat, and some of the iPads listed have had as many as seven updates, although the iPad 9.7 (2017) has only had five, making it perhaps the least likely to be removed.
So even without this leak, we’d think that most, if not all, of these devices have seen their last major update, although you never know: Apple historically hasn’t gone that long without removing device support, so we’re in a hurry. unexplored territory. here.
Via Phone Arena