Apple today sent out a notice to developers letting them know that starting in April of 2018, all new apps submitted to the App Store must be built using the iOS 11 SDK, which is included in Xcode 9 or later.

Furthermore, Apple says that all new apps designed for the iPhone, including universal apps, must support the iPhone X's Super Retina display.

ios 11 app store 5

Update your version of Xcode to the latest release of Xcode 9 available on the Mac App Store, which includes the iOS 11 SDK, and build your apps. Starting April 2018, all new iOS apps submitted to the App Store must be built with the iOS 11 SDK. All new apps for iPhone, including universal apps, must support the Super Retina display of iPhone X.

With this requirement, Apple is aiming to encourage developers to adopt key features introduced in iOS 11, like Core ML, ARKit, new camera APIs, expanded SiriKit domains, and more, plus the company is making sure future apps will be fully compatible with the display of the iPhone X.

Apple will, for the time being, allow apps built using earlier SDKs to continue to be updated without switching over to the iOS 11 SDK, but at some point in the future, Apple is likely to require developers to use the iOS 11 SDK for app updates as well.

April 1, 2018 is also when Apple plans to stop accepting updates to watchOS 1 apps. All updates submitted after that date must be built using the watchOS 2 SDK or later, and all newly submitted apps must be built with the watchOS 4 SDK or later.

Top Rated Comments

keysofanxiety Avatar
103 months ago
X compatibility should be required.
It is! Second sentence on the article. :)
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mariusignorello Avatar
103 months ago
What about apps like CVS Pharmacy, literally still to this day is an iPhone 4 app!!
Meh. They refuse to take Apple Pay too.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FelixDerKater Avatar
103 months ago
X compatibility should be required.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
magicschoolbus Avatar
103 months ago
Does this mean I'll have to put that virus ios11 on my phone?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sracer Avatar
103 months ago
With this requirement, Apple is aiming to encourage developers to adopt key features introduced in iOS 11, like Core ML, ARKit, new camera APIs, expanded SiriKit domains, and more, plus the company is making sure future apps will be fully compatible with the display of the iPhone X.
...and also ensuring that every customer who actively uses apps from the app store must upgrade their device to iOS 11. That's one way to improve the iOS 11 adoption rate. ;)
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TComm Avatar
103 months ago
The apps must be compliant with the bugs in iOS 11.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

top stories 2025 12 20

Top Stories: iOS 26.3 Beta, Major Apple Leaks, and More

Saturday December 20, 2025 6:00 am PST by
You'd think things would be slowing down heading into the holidays, but this week saw a whirlwind of Apple leaks and rumors while Apple started its next cycle of betas following last week's release of iOS 26.2 and related updates. This week also saw the release of a new Apple Music integration with ChatGPT, so read on below for all the details on this week's biggest stories! Top Stories i...
maxresdefault

Where's the New Apple TV?

Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Features Leaked in New Report, Including Under-Screen Face ID

Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu. As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
ios 18 security update

Don't Want to Upgrade to iOS 26? Here's How to Stay on iOS 18 [Update: Now Unavailable]

Friday December 19, 2025 10:37 am PST by
Since the beginning of December, Apple has been pushing iPhone users who opted to stay on iOS 18 to install iOS 26 instead. Apple started by making the iOS 18 upgrades less visible, and has now transitioned to making new iOS 18 updates unavailable on any device capable of running iOS 26. If you have an iPhone 11 or later, Apple is no longer offering new versions of iOS 18, even though there...
iPhone Chips

Apple Clings to Samsung as RAM Prices Soar

Monday December 22, 2025 6:17 am PST by
Apple is significantly increasing its reliance on Samsung for iPhone memory as component prices surge, according to The Korea Economic Daily. Apple is said to be expanding the share of iPhone memory it sources from Samsung due to rapidly rising memory prices. The shift is expected to result in Samsung supplying roughly 60% to 70% of the low-power DRAM used in the iPhone 17, compared with a...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple's 2026 and 2027 Product Roadmap: Foldable iPhone, iPhone 18 Pro, M5 Macs, and More

Tuesday December 16, 2025 4:42 pm PST by
There has been a whirlwind of rumors over the last few days, sourced from leaked internal software designed for the iPhone and the Mac, and news sites like The Information. Below, we have a quick recap of everything we've heard this week, which serves as a guide to Apple's product plans in 2026 and beyond. We've organized the info by likely release date, though there are some products that...
generic tracking prompt orange

Apple Hit With Supersized Fine in Italy Over an iPhone Privacy Feature

Monday December 22, 2025 7:47 am PST by
Italy's Competition Authority (AGCM) has imposed a €98.6 million ($116 million) fine on Apple over its App Tracking Transparency feature. Since the release of iOS 14.5 in April 2021, Apple has required apps to ask for permission before tracking a user's activity across other apps and websites for personalized advertising, as part of a feature named App Tracking Transparency. If a user...