If you bought an iPhone XR in 2018, you might be worried that this fall’s iOS 18 release could be the software update that finally forces an upgrade. Finally, Apple typically stops supporting phones after five years of software updates.
However, a new report suggests that may not be the case. According to an anonymous X account that claims to have a good track record of iPhone-related leaks, iOS 18 support will include the same iPhones that can currently run iOS 17. That means devices released in 2018 – in addition to the iPhone XS and XS Max to the iPhone XR – will survive another year.
We would like to direct you to the X/Twitter account in question, but it is a private account and the post was subsequently deleted. However, MacRumors discovered the post before it disappeared and points out that the author also has a track record of removing posts that still turn out to be accurate.
Assuming this is all solid enough support evidence for you, that means the following iPhones will be able to update to iOS 18 when the software launches later this year. (We expect iOS 18 will also come preinstalled on Apple’s new iPhone 16 models.)
- iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max
- iPhone SE (2022) and iPhone SE (2020)
It is not unusual for Apple to include six-year-old devices among the supported iPhones when updating iOS. Two years ago, the iOS 15 update included support for the original iPhone SE, a device that launched in 2016. Also keep in mind that just because a device can run one of Apple’s software updates, not all features will work on older phones, some require newer chipsets.
That could well be the case with iOS 18, which is rumored to rely on AI-powered features that may require a lot of processing power. However, it is possible that some of these AI functions will rely on the cloud rather than on-device computing power.
As for the iPadOS 18 update, which will be released at the same time as iOS 18, not every currently supported device might make the breakthrough. According to a separate MacRumors report, the same X/Twitter account says that iPads with the A10X Fusion chip will not be able to upgrade to the new version of iPadOS coming out this year. That would leave the first-generation 10.5-inch iPad Pro and second-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro out in the cold. This would also mean the end of support for A10 Fusion tablets, including the sixth and seventh generation iPads.
Note that none of this is official, as we won’t know Apple’s official support plans until the release of the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 betas. This is expected to happen at WWDC 2024, Apple’s developer conference, which is expected to take place in June.
