The likely imminent arrival of iOS 18 also heralds a new and stressful round of learning if your iPhone is eligible for the new update, or if it's getting left behind. But a new leak from a private account on X (seen by 9to5Mac) has good news for this year's supported iPhones and iPads ahead of WWDC 2024.
Aside from presumably coming pre-installed on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 18 will apparently be offered on the 2018 iPhone XS, iPhone XR and newer, including the iPhone SE 2020 and iPhone SE 2022.
• iPhone XS and XS Max
• iPhone XR
• iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
• iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max
The leaker has things to say about iPadOS 18 support too. As they tell it, all iPad models from 2019 or later will be able to upgrade, except for the iPad Pro, whose 2018 models will also be eligible.
These claims back up a previous report that also said iPhones from 2018 and onwards, and iPads operating with chips newer than Apple's A10X Fusion would be supported. However, the new rumor says the iPad 2019, which runs a vanilla A10 chip, is getting iPadOS 18, which doesn't quite fit with what the initial claim said.
• iPad 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th gen
• iPad Air 3rd, 4th and 5th gen
• iPad mini 5th and 6th gen
• iPad Pro 11-inch 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th gen
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th gen
Apple normally sticks to a five-year rule of supporting its previous models, but it seems that 2024 will be one of those fortunate years where six generations of iPhone (and some iPads) get to move on to the next update instead. This would be a pleasant surprise as we had wondered if, because of the alleged new on-device AI features that will be part of the update, Apple would insist that several aging models didn't have the processing power needed to run them.
WWDC 2024 will clear up whether this leak is true or false, as it's been Apple's annual platform for announcing new software (and the supported devices) for its products for the past several years. But we'll have to wait for the June 10th keynote to hear it officially. If you want more news before then, check out our iOS 18 hub for the latest info and speculation.
