Will your iPhone get iOS 27? We think we have the answer

Every time Apple rolls out a major new version of iOS, iPhone owners rush to check whether their device (especially if it’s an older model) will be able to run the update and benefit from its new features. When iOS 26 was announced in June, for example, it was the iPhones XR, XS and XS Max that received the bad news. They were removed from the list and would not be able to install the new software.

Typically, iPhones benefit from iOS updates for at least five years after launch. But sometimes they last longer. The iPhone 6s was capable of running seven distinct versions of iOS, from iOS 9 when it launched in 2015 to iOS 15 in 2021, and the iPhone XS and XR followed the same pattern until they ended up on the chopping block earlier this year.

With iOS 26 available (and updated to iOS 26.1), there’s a big question on iPhone owners’ minds right now. Which phones will be compatible with iOS 27? Although we don’t know for sure, we have a good idea of ​​what to expect.

iPhones that will (probably) get iOS 27

Looking at age, the 11 series handsets would be the next to go, followed closely by the iPhone SE 2, also equipped with an A13 chip but launched six months later. If the iPhone 11 had been delisted for the next iOS update, it would still have received a full six years of updates. For the iPhone SE 2, it would be five.

However, I suspect that Apple will also support these older models for another year and let them run iOS 27. There are two arguments for this.

The first is that while the A12-powered iPhone XS no longer gets full software updates, many other Apple devices with the same chip do. The A12 is a real jack of all trades, appearing in everything from the 3rd generation iPad Pro to the iPad 8 and the 2nd generation Apple TV 4K (while the A12Z formed the basis for the M1). The iPad 8 has been on the market for five years now, the Apple TV 4K (2nd generation) for only four years, which means Apple will likely continue to make software compatible with the A12 for a few more years, even if it’s iPadOS or tvOS rather than iOS. And that should mean A13-based devices are safe for a little longer.

The second reason is that Apple will likely base its decision on the popularity and distribution of individual devices. The iPhone 6s was supported for so long, at least in part, because so many people owned them. And all signs suggest that the iPhone SE 2 was and remains extremely popular as a business mobile. Only the limited RAM could be the downfall of the device: we had already noticed with iOS 26 that the iPhone SE 2 had problems with its 3 GB of RAM. The iPhone 11 has 4GB, as does the iPhone 12, so there are no issues with either.

Typically, the processor generation is the deciding factor on whether or not a model receives a new iOS update. In the following list you can see all models and their respective chips: