iOS 15 Rumored to Drop Support for iPhone 6s and 2016 iPhone SE

Thursday January 21, 2021 11:58 am PST by Juli Clover

Apple's upcoming iOS 15 operating system, which we expect to see unveiled in June, is rumored to be dropping support for a few of Apple's older iPhones.

According to French site iPhoneSoft, iOS 15 will not be able to be installed on the iPhone 6s, the ‌iPhone‌ 6s Plus, or the 2016 ‌iPhone‌ SE, all of which have an A9 chip.

The ‌iPhone‌ 6s and 6s Plus were introduced in 2015 and are now more than five years old, so it is not a surprise that the smartphones are not expected to be able to run iOS 15. If the rumors are true, these iPhones will not be able to be updated past iOS 14.

iOS 15 will run on the ‌iPhone‌ 7, ‌iPhone‌ 7 Plus, and all newer iPhones that have been released, making it compatible with devices that have an A10 chip or newer. The seventh-generation iPod touch has an A10 chip, so it should be able to run iOS 15.

As for the iPad, iPadOS 15 could perhaps drop support for the iPad mini 4 (2015), iPad Air 2 (2014), and ‌iPad‌ 5 (2017), equipped with A8, A8X, and A9 chips, respectively. All newer iPads are expected to support the update.

This is the second time that we've heard that iOS 15 will not be available on the ‌iPhone‌ 6s and the ‌iPhone‌ SE, as Israeli site The Verifier said the same thing back in November.

Related Forum: iOS 15

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Top Rated Comments

TheSkywalker77

64 months ago

And people are still going to say Apple has planned obsolescence and is forcing you to upgrade after 5 years of software updates. Just continue using your android phone that’ll get 2, maybe 3 years of updates.

Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)

jz0309

64 months ago

Not really surprising... by the time of release, 6 years of upgrades is not bad...

Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)

cygy2k

64 months ago

And people are still going to say Apple has planned obsolescence and is forcing you to upgrade after 5 years of software updates. Just continue using your android phone that’ll get 2, maybe 3 years of updates.

Amazes me how people think Apple should provide updates for eternity. I don't know of any competitor that provides support and updates for half as long as Apple, let alone on a budget device like the SE.

Besides, the device still works perfectly fine, you just won't get new features or upgrades. This whole planned obsolescence thing is BS from people that don't understand progress and technology.

Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Jon80

64 months ago

I’m sure many won’t believe me, but i’m blown away by the speed and stability of my iPad 5 A9 chip on iOS 14. It feels no different to my iPhone XS, with the exception of reloading apps more with the limited ram.

Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)