Hearsay: iOS16 will ditch the iPhone 6 and SE

With iOS 15.2 now shipping, Apple will start to focus internally on the next major release, iOS 16, as the new year begins. Based on someone's knowledge of running an internal seed, Apple plans to give up support for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and the original iPhone SE, iPhonesoft reported.

In terms of iPad, iPadOS 16 is said to be incompatible with the iPad mini 4, iPad Air 2, iPad (fifth generation) and 2015 iPad Pro models.

Of course, until Apple announces iOS16 at WWDC 2022, everything is not official. However, iPhonesoft has correctly reported the device matrix for iOS 13 and iOS 14 in advance. The publication claimed last year that the iPhone 6s and the original SE would not be able to update to iOS 15, which is incorrect. iOS 15 will continue to support all device models that are the same as iOS 14.

Assuming iPhonesoft's report today is correct, it will mean that iOS 16 will require an A10 chip as the minimum specification to get the latest features.

Still, this represents an incredibly long lifespan for new features and bug fixes on Apple phones. The allegedly abandoned iPhone 6s and iPhone SE were first released in late 2015 and early 2016, respectively, meaning they will receive regular software updates for more than six years.

Apple also has plans to continue to support current and previous major versions of iOS with critical security patches, further extending the usability of older models. For example, customers now have the option to stick with iOS 14 instead of iOS 15. Assuming Apple sticks to its promise, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE users will continue to receive iOS 15 security updates for years after the release of iOS 16.

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