If you are thinking of buying an older generation or used/refurbished iPhone, or wondering whether it’s worth upgrading your current iPhone to a new one, one important factor to consider is how long Apple will continue to offer support for that handset. The good news is that Apple supports iPhones for a long time. In general, you can get seven to eight years of security-related software updates, while battery and other repairs are often available on five to seven-year-old handsets, according to Apple’s own Vintage and Obsolete categorizations. More on that below.

Read on to find out which iPhones are supported with the latest operating systems, and which are supported for servicing and repairs.

How long does Apple support iOS?

As a general rule, Apple doesn’t guarantee that an iOS update will support devices for a particular length of time. However, buyers can expect at least five years of iOS updates, though Apple regularly goes beyond that.

With the arrival of iOS 26 the list of supported iPhones changed again. The iPhone XS and XR, which were introduced in 2018, will not be able to install iOS 26.

That doesn’t mean that those iPhones will no longer be supported by Apple though. From time to time, Apple issues important security updates for the current version of iOS as well as some preceding versions.

For this reason, Apple will continue to provide security updates for iPhones running iOS 18. In this case it is unlikely that Apple will issue updates to iOS 17 because when iOS 18 arrived in late 2024 it was compatible with the same iPhones as iOS 17 had been (the iPhone XS onwards) Apple may also end support for iOS 17 in favour of iOS 18.. The last update to iOS 17 was 17.7.2 in November 2024.

We don’t expect that Apple will continue to support iOS 16 or earlier, but a security update to iOS 16 (iOS 16.7.12) and iOS 15 (iOS 15.8.5) was issued on September 15, 2025, the same day as iOS 26 arrived, so it is possible that Apple will continue to support those versions for a little while longer. While iOS 15 is supported even the 2014 iPhone 6s gets security updates. So that’s more than a decade of support!

You should be very cautious if using an iPhone that won’t receive these security fixes for what could be dangerous vulnerabilities. Since we can only guarantee that iOS 18 support will continue we would recommend that you should replace your iPhone if it can’t run iOS 18, which includes the iPhones X, 8 and 8 Plus and iPhones 7, 6S, 6S Plus and the 1st gen SE.

Which iPhones run each version of iOS?

The chart below shows each version of iOS and the iPhones it ran on. As you can see, in recent years support for new iOS versions has stretched back for around six years, while, if you include the versions that Apple supports with security updates, the cover goes back a further year.

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Find your iPhone here and check which versions of iOS it can run.

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Foundry

iPhone OS history

The first iPhone, which launched in 2007, was able to run iPhone OS 3, which was supported by Apple up until 2010. The iPhone is considered obsolete by Apple.

The iPhone 3G, which launched in 2008, was able to run iOS 4.0, which was itself supported until 2011. The iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS are considered obsolete by Apple.

The length of support increased with the launch of the iPhone 4s in 2011. That phone was able to run operating systems all the way up to iOS 9. Apple was still supporting iOS 9 in 2019 when it issued a GPS-related update that July. The iPhones 4 and 4s are considered obsolete by Apple.

The iPhone 5c runs iOS 10, which also received the GPS-related update in July 2019. The iPhones 5 and 5c are considered obsolete by Apple.

The iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 both run iOS 12, for which Apple issued a security update in January 2023. This update was issued for those few devices that don’t support iOS 15. Apple is unlikely to continue support for iOS 12. These phones are considered vintage by Apple.

iOS 15, which arrived in September 2021, supports all iPhones from iPhone 6s onwards, just as with iOS 14 and iOS 13. Both iOS 14 and 13 are considered obsolete by Apple because the same phones can run iOS 15. The iPhone 6s is already considered ‘vintage’ by Apple.

iOS 16, which arrived in September 2022 runs on all iPhones from the iPhone 8 onwards – but do note that not all features are available on the older handsets.

iOS 17 arrived in September 2023 and runs on all iPhones from the iPhone XS onwards – meaning the iPhone X and iPhone 8 are stuck with iOS 16.

iOS 18 arrived on September 16, 2024, and, like iOS 17, runs on all iPhones from the iPhone XS onwards. (The same phones as iOS 17).

iOS 26 arrived in September 2025 and will run on all iPhones from the iPhone 11 onwards. Leaving the iPhone Xs and iPhone XR unable to update.

What is the oldest iPhone still supported by Apple?

• iPhone 6S is the oldest iPhone supported with security updates because it runs iOS 15, which was last updated in August 2025. But Apple is unlikely to support iOS 15 for much longer and in terms of hardware support, the iPhone 6S is already considered obsolete by Apple.

At the time of writing, the oldest version of iOS supported with security updates is iOS 15, thanks to the iOS 15 update in August 2025, that means the oldest iPhones ‘supported’ by Apple is the iPhone 6s. However, that handset is already considered obsolete by Apple.

Now that iOS 25 has arrived we expect that Apple will stop support for iOS 16 and iOS 15, which means the iPhone 8 and iPhone X will no longer receive emergency software updates.

What that happens the oldest iPhone still supported with security updates would be the iPhone XS, which is already on Apple’s vintage list.

iPhones to avoid

We don’t recommend the following iPhone models because they no longer receive regular updates, though some models may occasionally get a critical security update:

• iPhone 11/11 Pro (2019)





• iPhone XR (2018)





• iPhone Xs/XS Max (2018)





• iPhone X (2017)





• iPhone 8/8 Plus (2017)





• iPhone 7/7 Plus (2016)





• iPhone SE (2016)





• iPhone 6s/6s Plus (2014)





• iPhone 6/6 Plus (2014)





• iPhone 5s (2013)





• iPhone 5c (2013)





• iPhone 5 (2012)





• iPhone 4s (2011)





• iPhone 4 (2010)





• iPhone 3GS (2009)





• iPhone 3G (2008)





• iPhone (2007)

For more information, see our list of every version of iOS.

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