iOS 27 Rumored to Drop Support for These iPhone Models

[MacRumors]

iOS 27 will be compatible with the iPhone 12 series and newer, according to Instant Digital, a known Apple leaker on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.

If this rumor is accurate, iOS 27 will drop support for the following iPhone models:

• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2nd generation)

However, these devices will continue to receive iOS 26 security updates for at least a few years.

iOS 27 will be compatible with the following iPhone models, according to the leaker:

• iPhone 17e
• iPhone 17
• iPhone 17 Pro
• iPhone 17 Pro Max
• iPhone Air
• iPhone 16e
• iPhone 16
• iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 15
• iPhone 15 Plus
• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 14
• iPhone 14 Plus
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 mini
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (3rd generation)

Any new Apple Intelligence features introduced in iOS 27 will require an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.

Apple will unveil iOS 27 during its WWDC 2026 keynote on Monday, June 8, and the first developer beta should be released later that day. A public beta typically follows in July, ahead of a final release to all users in September.

iOS 27 been likened to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is reportedly focused on bug fixes and stability improvements. A handful of new features are still expected, including a dedicated Siri app, a system-wide slider for finely adjusting the opacity of Liquid Glass, improved keyboard autocorrection, and more.

Instant Digital has accurately leaked Apple information before, such as the yellow color for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2's Titanium Milanese Loop. However, the account does not have a perfect track record.

Article Link: iOS 27 Rumored to Drop Support for These iPhone Models

 

[TheBeverage]

While this makes sense, I’m suspicious that any supply chain leaker would be able to know Apple’s plans regarding device support.

 

[HouseLannister]

Probably for the best. However, this seems to contradict Gurman's claims that this Snow Leopard OS was going to clean up all the code and make it lean to maximize battery life and performance. If that were true, no reason to cut any devices, right?

 

[Zenman12]

I don’t have any of these phones, but I stand by my position. It would be really ****** to drop this year for what is a “snow leopard” update to make the phones run more smoothly and is features light (they won’t even be able to use the new Siri with AI anyway). I won’t put it past Apple to do so tho.

 

[dd93]

I doubt this if iOS 27 is supposed to be a Snow Leopard type of update. iOS 12 and 14 were similar stability updates and kept support for all iPhones supported in the previous version. I’d expect something similar happening with iOS 27. Fix stability, glitches and performance before dropping both the 11 and 12 with iOS 28.

 

[wellander1]

Any speculation on iPad support?

 

[Populus]

I wonder if the 2018 iPad Pro, the one equipped with an A12X SoC, will support iPadOS 27.

That device was pivotal in the iPad history

 

[Reverend Benny]

Doesn't make any sense at all from a performance perspective.
If iOS 27 is an optimized version of iOS 26 with not that many new features than an AI boosted Siri that only work on iPhone 15 pro and later it should be running even better on these devices.

 

[winxmac]

Since the 2018 releases did not get updated to the 2025 release, it's possible that the 2019 (and early 2020) releases will not get updated to the 2026 release.

2018 - iPhone XR, XS, XS Max
2025 - not upgradeable to iOS 26 (originally iOS 19)

2019 - iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max
2020 - iPhone SE
2026 - little possible of upgrade to iOS 27 (originally iOS 20)

I do have a feeling that that is what is going to happen, but if the rumor of iOS 27 to be a bug-fix and an iOS 12-like release, then maybe the 2019 releases will indeed get 1 more year of support.

iOS 18.x stability has been proven at this point so Apple should just release the full iPSW for iPhone 16 series and older. Testing iOS 27 on your only device (and expect it to improve through later updates) is a gamble once it is released.

 

[Havalo]

What would be a thoughtful and gracious gift from TimmyBoy before he departs (though it's highly unlikely) to provide the individuals with the dropped devices the option to downgrade to iOS18.

I know, I know....wishful thinking!

 

[dannyyankou]

It’ll be interesting to see what happens when it comes to iPhone 15 support in the future. The iPhone 15 has a chip that’s one year older than the 15 Pro. And then with the iPhone 16, the chip is only barely marginally faster than the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17. So it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a time when iPhone 16 support is dropped, but iPhone 16 pro is supported.

 

[WilliApple]

It’ll be interesting to see what happens when it comes to iPhone 15 support in the future. The iPhone 15 has a chip that’s one year older than the 15 Pro. And then with the iPhone 16, the chip is only barely marginally faster than the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17. So it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a time when iPhone 16 support is dropped, but iPhone 16 pro is supported.

My guess is that they will give the iPhone 13 an extra year of support and then drop the iPhone 13 and 14 at the same time, but 14 Pro and 15 remain supported.

 

[serpico007]

Looks like a blessing for my wife's 11 Pro Max. She loves her phone so as long as Apple gives her security updates, this is fine. 🙂

 

[dustin.haley]

The A14 floor makes sense when you think about the M1 is basically just a scaled up A14, same cores, same Neural Engine generation, same architecture. So Apple is having every supported device this year, iPhone, iPad(if iPad also has A14 floor), and Mac, all run on the same silicon family for the first time. That’s the whole point of a Snow Leopard year. Less about new features, more about finally being able to write code for one platform instead of juggling several different ones.

 

[turbineseaplane]

As a 13 Mini user, what I'd like to know is if 27 will support it better.

There are too many areas in 26 where it's clear they didn't consider the 5.4" screen size enough.

 

[klasma]

Any speculation on iPad support?

I speculate that iOS 27 won’t support any iPads.

 

[wellander1]

I speculate that iOS 27 won’t support any iPads.

Sorry I meant to add iPadOS to it.

 

[tkermit]

As a 13 Mini user, what I'd like to know is if 27 will support it better.

There are too many areas in 26 where it's clear they didn't consider the 5.4" screen size enough.

That ship may have sailed, unfortunately...

 

[theluggage]

robably for the best. However, this seems to contradict Gurman's claims that this Snow Leopard OS was going to clean up all the code and make it lean to maximize battery life and performance. If that were true, no reason to cut any devices, right?

Snow Leopard cut a lot of devices - like, every PPC Mac.

Removing code to work around missing features in older hardware, or taking advantage of efficiencies only available in newer hardware is "cleaning up" and - at worst - not having to test or respond to bug reports for older models frees up developer time - especially if it's for an entire processor ISA.

I think that's partly why people are speculating that Mac OS 27 - which drops Intel support - will be a "Snow Leopard" release - of course, this thread is about iOS 27 - shame about all those abandoned Intel iPhones (er...)

Of course, iOS shares an undisclosed - but likely significant - amount of code with MacOS so it might benefit from a MacOS cleanup.

 

[awshucks]

Probably for the best. However, this seems to contradict Gurman's claims that this Snow Leopard OS was going to clean up all the code and make it lean to maximize battery life and performance. If that were true, no reason to cut any devices, right?

Snow Leopard cut all PowerPC Macs. When there’s less devices, there is room to streamline the OS to fix its issues.

 

[HouseLannister]

Mac OS 27 - which drops Intel support - will be a "Snow Leopard" release

Good point. But you also reminded me: Didn't the iPhone 11 have an Intel modem? A code cleanup would be a good chance to cut off support for those.

 

[rohirrimrider]

I don’t have any of these phones, but I stand by my position. It would be really ****** to drop this year for what is a “snow leopard” update to make the phones run more smoothly and is features light (they won’t even be able to use the new Siri with AI anyway). I won’t put it past Apple to do so tho.

The new Siri requires all least an iPhone 15 Pro, so there is no difference on the iPhones that will not have iOS 27 support.

 

[jjudson]

So my iPhone 12 Pro Max is still on the list. But I'm still on iOS 18 and it's a 12 so...

Am I even qualified to post on this forum...?

 

[saudor]

It’ll be interesting to see what happens when it comes to iPhone 15 support in the future. The iPhone 15 has a chip that’s one year older than the 15 Pro. And then with the iPhone 16, the chip is only barely marginally faster than the iPhone 15 Pro’s A17. So it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a time when iPhone 16 support is dropped, but iPhone 16 pro is supported.

Supporting the pros but dropping the regular would complicate things so I bet both will get dropped at the same time even though hardware supports it. Although 2009 MBP was dropped with Sierra but the 2009 MB stayed on so who knows.

 

[maika1305]

Well I could easily start an exact same rumour and be deemed a trustworthy leaker, couldn't I? Who would expect the 11 series be dropped after the Xs series were dropped last year? 😌