KEY POINTS

  • Apple will be releasing iOS 15 this year
  • A report says it won't offer support for the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus and 2016 iPhone SE
  • These three devices have not been included yet in Apple's list of Vintage and Obsolete products

Some iPhone owners will no longer be able to update their handsets to iOS 15 when it arrives as the new iPhone operating system won’t feature support for older models, particularly those from five years ago, a report says.

Apple’s upcoming iPhone operating system, iOS 15, will not include support for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and the first-gen iPhone SE, MacRumors reported. The information comes by way of a report from the French language site iPhoneSoft.

It’s worth noting that the three handsets are old now. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were released in 2015, while the original iPhone SE was released in 2016. None of these models are included in the dreaded list of Vintage and Obsolete products, but they have been out in the market for a long time – perhaps longer than most Android smartphones’ lifespans.

iPhone SE
Pictured: An Apple Inc. iPhone SE is displayed at the company's Omotesando store on March 31, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

That said, MacRumors noted that all three devices are powered by an A9 chip. The new iOS version can be installed on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, both of which run on an A10 chip. This indicates that the new operating system may run only on iPhones powered by an A10 chip or newer.

The report supports what Israeli tech site The Verifier reported last year, which was iOS 15 not having support for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and 2016 iPhone SE. AppleTrack, a website dedicated to monitoring leaks and rumors about Apple products, said The Verifier has a 54.3% accuracy rating, which indicates a hit or miss track record when it comes to leaks.

The Verifier claims that iOS 15 will run on the following devices:

  • iPhone 7
  • iPhone 7 Plus
  • iPhone 8
  • iPhone 8 Plus
  • iPhone X
  • iPhone XS
  • iPhone XS Max
  • iPhone XR
  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone 11 Pro
  • iPhone 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone SE (2020)
  • iPhone 12
  • iPhone 12 Pro
  • iPhone 12 mini
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max

As for iPadOS 15, the iPad counterpart of iOS 15, iPhoneSoft said that it will not run on iPads powered by an A8, A8X and A9 chips. Newer models are expected to have support for the new iPadOS version when it arrives.

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