Apple will launch iOS 19 next year, and the question for users holding older iPhones is undoubtedly whether they can upgrade their devices.
Image by Mac Rumors
Recently, the French technology website iPhoneSoft broke the list of supported models for iOS 19. Although Apple has not proclaimed the update plan, according to internal sources, all iPhones that support iOS 18 will continue to support iOS 19, while some older iPads will be excluded.
Apple is known for its long system support cycles, with many devices even receiving up to 6-7 years of update support. Last year iOS 17 stopped supporting the iPhone X released in 2017, while iOS 18 retained almost all of the existing supported devices.
This leak shows that the support list for iOS 19 will fully continue the range of devices for iOS 18, and users can continue to enjoy Apple's system updates.
Here's the full list of iPhone models that are rumored to support iOS 19:
- 2025 models: iPhone 17, 17 Air (name undecided), 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max
- 2024 models: iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max
- 2023 models: iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max
- 2022 models: iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max
- 2021 models: iPhone 13, 13 Mini, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max
- 2020 models: iPhone 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max
- 2019 models: iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max
- 2018 models: iPhone XS, XS Max, XR
- iPhone SE series: iPhone SE (2nd, 3rd, 4th generation)
If the leaks are accurate, the iPhone XS series and iPhone XR will be the models that have received iOS update support for the longest time. These devices have been supporting multiple versions in a row since iOS 12, and iOS 19 will be their 8th major version update.
However, it is important to note that while these devices are expected to be upgraded to iOS 19, some of the new features will not be fully supported for older models with weaker performance. Especially after Apple introduces Apple Intelligence, the feature gap between old and new devices will become even more obvious.
Some iPads won't be eligible for iPadOS 19
Apple has provided system support for some older iPads for up to seven years compared to full iPhone support, but the requirements for iPadOS 19 have been significantly increased this time. According to the leak, the minimum hardware requirement to install iPadOS 19 in 2025 is the A12 chip, and here is a list of devices that support iPadOS 19:
- iPad mini: 5th generation and later
- iPad: 8th generation and later
- iPad Air: 3rd generation and later
- iPad Pro: 2018 and later
Unfortunately, iPadOS 19 will no longer be supported on the 7th generation iPad, released in 2019, and the iPad Pro in 2017.
Why is Apple willing to let all iPhones that support iOS 18 fight for another year this time?
The leak pointed out that this may be related to Apple's development strategy adjustment.
iPhoneSoft, citing sources, said that iOS 19 may have fewer new features than iOS 18, especially since there are fewer innovations outside of Apple Intelligence. This is mainly because the Apple team's current resources are still focused on the subsequent iOS 18.x updates and the development of visionOS.
As you can see, many of the AI features of iOS 18 were rolled out gradually with phased updates, such as iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2. But until now, Apple hasn't fully implemented all of the AI features it advertised.
Not only does this mean that the development schedule of iOS 19 will be severely slowed, but iOS 19 is likely to continue the "feature in batches" model, so even if you can upgrade to iOS 19 for older devices, the perceived upgrade may be very limited.
As is customary, the developer preview of iOS 19 and iPadOS 19 will be released at WWDC in June 2025, and the official release will be released with the new iPhone in September 2025.
What features are you looking forward to in iOS 19? For example, split-screen multitasking, long screenshots......
Wait, leave a comment to share your thoughts.
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