As iOS 18 is looming on the horizon

[MRrainer]

I have an iPhone XR (bought in early 2019) and there's very little I expect from future updates.
I'm not even sure the security updates are worth it because these days apparently a lot of threats require newer hardware to mitigate.

There were a couple of minor updates I got over the years. I believe portrait mode for selfies was not possible in earlier iOS releases for the XR as well as a couple of subtle updates that I forgot.

Most of the AI features (rumored and actual) will only be relevant for iPhones 16 and further and I doubt they will be of much use to me anyway (I don't really do much with AI).

I guess I could live the the XR even after it has stopped receiving updates and just replacing its battery (82% currently).

Though, of course, the lack of RAM is showing these days.

 

[jb310]

I guess I could live the the XR even after it has stopped receiving updates and just replacing its battery (82% currently).

Eventually the apps you use will stop getting updates once your version of iOS is deemed "too old to bother with" by the apps' developers. This might not be an issue for games or apps that work offline, but banking and social media apps might stop working well (or at all).

I'm not saying you should get the latest and greatest iPhone right now, but buying one of the less expensive iPhone models every 3-5 years would keep you current and it wouldn't be that expensive. 👌

 

[MRrainer]

Yes. Banking (and Teams et.al) will eventually stop.
I plan to buy a new iPhone sometime after iOS updates stop for the XR.


Social media - that's only reddit for me and it's benefit is...questionable at best....

Also, I like the Product Red color. I hope they offer it again this year or next year.

 

[Aoligei]

Yes. Banking (and Teams et.al) will eventually stop.
I plan to buy a new iPhone sometime after iOS updates stop for the XR.


Social media - that's only reddit for me and it's benefit is...questionable at best....

Also, I like the Product Red color. I hope they offer it again this year or next year.

My banking app supports iOS 12 or Android 6 above. Quite a long time to go for XR… LOL…

 

[MRrainer]

Mine says it requires iOS15. I don't know how far backwards they'll accept the app, but my educated guess would be that they do require a current version if not for the simple fact that most likely they've baked in the serial numbers and hashes of their e-banking ssl certificates and the app will just refuse to do anything if those don't match...

We'll see how well iOS18 works on the XR's hardware. Memory is clearly becoming a problem.