Apple Ending Support for Safari Bookmark Syncing on iOS 10 and Earlier

In a support document published this week, Apple said it will be dropping support for Safari bookmark syncing on iPhones and iPads running iOS 10 or earlier, and on Macs running macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or earlier, starting December 18. Apple said it made this decision in accordance with its minimum software requirements for iCloud.

iCloud General Feature
Apple said Safari bookmarks on devices running those older iOS and macOS versions will no longer be synced to other devices or uploaded to iCloud.com:

You won't lose any bookmarks already on your devices and you'll still be able to create new bookmarks on those devices. However, new bookmarks won't sync across devices with iOS 10 or earlier and macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or earlier. They also won't be recoverable on iCloud.com.

Apple said users will need to update their devices to iOS 11 or macOS Sierra 10.12.6 or newer to continue syncing their Safari bookmarks with the newer iCloud Bookmarks system, with steps for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, and PC users outlined in Apple's support document. If you cannot or do not want to update your device, you can copy or export your bookmarks, with the support document outlining steps for that option as well.

If your devices are already running iOS 11 or later or macOS Sierra 10.12.6 or later, no action is required, according to Apple.

As we previously reported, Apple also announced that iCloud device backups for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch will require iOS 9 or later starting December 18. As outlined in another support document, users will need to update their devices to iOS 9 or later or manually back up the device to a Mac or PC. After the deadline, Apple said any data backed up to iCloud from devices that have not been updated to iOS 9 will be deleted.

Tags: iCloud, Safari

Popular Stories

iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design Draws Criticism From Users

Wednesday September 17, 2025 2:56 pm PDT by
It's been two days since iOS 26 was released, and Apple's new Liquid Glass design is even more divisive than expected. Any major design change can create controversy as people get used to the new look, but the MacRumors forums, Reddit, Apple Support Communities, and social media sites seem to feature more criticism than praise as people discuss the update. Complaints There are a long...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4: Here Are 5 New Features to Expect on Your iPhone

Tuesday September 16, 2025 11:17 am PDT by
iOS 26 was finally released on Monday, but the software train never stops, and the first developer beta of iOS 26.1 will likely be released soon. iOS 18.1 was an anomaly, as the first developer beta of that version was released in late July last year, to allow for early testing of Apple Intelligence features. The first betas of iOS 15.1, iOS 16.1, and iOS 17.1 were all released in the second ...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

Apple's Rumored MacBook Pro Redesign: 6 New Features Anticipated

Wednesday September 17, 2025 4:26 am PDT by
Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the ‌MacBook Pro‌ is now several years away, think again. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small ...
iOS 26 Glass Feature

iOS 26: The Top 100 New Features and Changes

Tuesday September 16, 2025 12:26 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26 on September 15, and it's now available for all iPhone users with a compatible device. There are a lot of changes and features to learn about, so if you want a quick, easy-to-read list that outlines what's new, we've got you covered. Design Liquid Glass design that reflects light and refracts what's underneath. It's system wide, with dynamic tab bars and toolbars...
ios 26 liquid glass dark mode

iOS 26 Liquid Glass Design Makes App Icons Look Crooked, Report Users

Wednesday September 17, 2025 4:55 am PDT by
iOS 26's new Liquid Glass interface has been criticized for making some content illegible in certain circumstances, and now the UI design is reportedly causing another unusual visual problem for some users. Liquid Glass adds subtle glowing effects to the corners of app icons, creating a dynamic glass-like appearance with depth and parallax effects. However, as noted by Gizmodo, this design...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 Get iOS 26 Features With New Firmware Update

Monday September 15, 2025 10:50 am PDT by
Apple today released updated firmware for the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4, introducing support for the new AirPods features that are included in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe. The firmware has a build number of 8A356, and it replaces the current 7E93 firmware. With Apple's new software updates, the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4 support better audio quality for phone calls and...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...

Top Rated Comments

ArtOfWarfare Avatar
11 months ago
macOS versions are... kind of a mess.

They have their own totally unforced error from when they decided the next version after (10.)15 was 11, making it hard to realize that (10.)12 is over 8 years old now, when it only feels 3 years old.

It's interesting that Apple supports their hardware for long, but "major" releases of macOS only get support for 2-3 years. I wouldn't feel comfortable as a business using an OS with so little API stability. Although Windows seems to throw everything out with each major release, at least the major releases get free support for 10-11 years (and longer paid). RedHat probably has the best API stability of any OS, and they similarly offer free support for ~10 years and another 3-5 years beyond that for paid.

And updates from everyone just strike me as taking an absurdly long time to install. What the heck is going on during that? Are they building the entire OS from source code? I've gotten used to updating the base image for linux in a docker container where it takes well under 5 minutes... IDK why it should take significantly longer to do any other OS update. Probably because everyone insists on including a ton of applications and stuff that really should be installed separately and not be part of the OS. Let me start using my computer after 5 minutes and it's okay to spend the next 50 minutes installing all the bizarre apps (Freeform? Has anyone ever touched this?) in the background.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
scrapesleon Avatar
11 months ago
Apple trying to force people to upgrade all in the name of more money
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PsykX Avatar
11 months ago

Is there someone still using macOS 10.12.5 when macOS 10.12.6 was already released 7 years ago? macOS 15.1 is already released and will be updated to macOS 15.2 next month...

iOS 10 is the last update for iPhone 5 and 5c and iPad 4 but there could be others like me that stay on older versions for the performance...
Yeah, it's not a big deal.

The oldest supported iPhone is iPhone 5, which I bought 12 years ago now.
I mean, if you have one, it was a good phone, but maybe it's time to upgrade (or maybe you don't even care about bookmarks syncing). If you don't have money, the used market is also there for you.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adrianlondon Avatar
11 months ago
Thanks for the warning.

I've just booted up my first-gen iPad mini (iOS 9) so it can sync everything possible before it gets cut off. I'm surprised it's lasted so well, to be fair.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Slix Avatar
11 months ago
It's been a while since I checked, but I thought my devices on iOS 9 and macOS 10.11 were already not syncing bookmarks in Safari? Maybe I'm mistaken, but either way, I guess they won't soon.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
orbital~debris Avatar
11 months ago
I hope this is being done to improve reliability of the syncing. It's truly one of the only places in the entire iCloud infrastructure that I can 'feel' a creaky system behind it: for example, Safari will often show a warning about being unable to deal with changes to bookmarks because syncing is in progress…
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)