Questionable Rumor Says iOS 13 Will Drop Support for iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and iPhone SE

[MacRumors]

iOS 13 will not be compatible with the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, or iPhone SE, and support for the original iPad Air and iPad mini 2 will also be dropped, according to a questionable rumor tipped to us by French blog iPhoneSoft.fr.

This is at least the second time we've heard this rumor this year, but it remains questionable for a few reasons. For one, the iPhone SE uses the same A9 chip as the iPhone 6s and the fifth-generation iPad, so it would seem inconsistent if the iPhone SE was dropped but the latter two devices remained supported.

It could be theorized that Apple wants to drop support for iOS devices with 4-inch displays, including the iPhone 5s and iPhone SE, but there is again some inconsistency there, as the sixth-generation iPod touch will allegedly run iOS 13.

This rumor would be significant if accurate, however, as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in particular were tremendously popular devices that are likely still in the hands of many millions of customers. Meanwhile, the fan-favorite iPhone SE was only released just over three years ago, in March 2016.

iOS 13 is expected to be unveiled at Apple's annual WWDC keynote on June 3, so we'll find out for sure in less than a month.

Article Link: Questionable Rumor Says iOS 13 Will Drop Support for iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and iPhone SE

 

[DanGoh]

I can see the 6 and 6 Plus being dropped as they have 1GB of RAM and is almost 5 years old, but having the SE being dropped would suck.

 

[1369281]

No way.

 

[hank moody]

I hope this is true.
iOS13 would slow dows that phones.
And Apple needs to sell new phones!

 

[Shanghaichica]

Seems that the cut off is based on ram as the SE and the 6S plus have the same chip.

 

[Dented]

Seems that the cut off is based on ram as the SE and the 6S plus have the same chip.

They also have the same ram, 2gb in both, so it's not that.

Dropping the SE at this point would be unforgivable IMHO. It's identical internally to a 6S and younger too.

 

[DoctorTech]

I could see them dropping the 5s but I really doubt they would drop the 6 or 6s. I have 2 daughters who are going to be upset if they drop support for the SE. They love the size of their SEs and have held onto them rather than upgrading to newer, larger phones.

 

[benshive]

I used my 6 Plus for years before upgrading to the X. It was such a great phone

 

[jagolden]

I hope this is true.
iOS13 would slow dows that phones.
And Apple needs to sell new phones!

I think it should be left up to the phone owner to decide if they want to upgrade and take a supposed speed hit.

 

[oneMadRssn]

When has Apple ever dropped OS support for a device that it was selling as new just a year ago? Never.

 

[poe diddley]

i dont buy it. too many 6's and 6s's in the field, along with the SE. i could almost believe the 5S tho.

 

[v1597psh]

There is no way that A7 based mini 3 gets ios 13. It can barely run anything newer than iOS 9… I can see SE being dropped only because they may wanna stop development for 4’’ sizes. But also very unlikely as it’s being sold everywhere at authorised resellers.

 

[ph001bi]

I used my 6 Plus for years before upgrading to the X. It was such a great phone

I agree, and it could fold long before people had ever heard of folding phones.

 

[Grey Area]

Meanwhile, the fan-favorite iPhone SE was only released just over three years ago, in March 2016.

The 32 and 128 GB versions are even just 2 years old. If this turns out to be true, then my SE will have had the same poor upgrade support that my previous Androids had, and which made me switch to the iPhone. So I really hope this is a false rumor. I'd probably switch to annual Android burners.

 

[BootsWalking]

$12B in service revenue last quarter says this rumor is BS - no way Apple would risk a hit to their current primary growth strategy.

 

[Nikiaf]

Dropping support for the 6 would be surprising, but I think that phone is basically the iPad 3 of iPhones, it launched with underwhelming specs and might actually be unable to handle a new OS. Let's not forget that iOS12 was largely centered on performance tweaks than any big new features, so if iOS13 is a return to a more substantial update the 1GB of RAM may have finally become the straw that broke the camel's back.

At the end of the day, the iPhone 6/Plus will be 5 years old by the time iOS13 officially launches, I think that's still a reasonable period of time to use a phone for. Most people will probably have gone through at least one phone contract in that timeframe.

 

[benshive]

I think it should be left up to the phone owner to decide if they want to upgrade and take a supposed speed hit.

I see where you're coming from but if you try and put yourself in Apple's shoes they'd probably have tons and tons of angry customers complaining about how a new update impacted the performance of their old phone because they don't keep up with the OS updates and just update when there's one available.

 

[dumastudetto]

People do need to upgrade.

People can't keep expecting free software upgrades forever. And Apple cannot possibly keep supporting old legacy devices that lack the capabilities to deliver a buttery smooth and delightful iOS experience.

 

[HacKage]

When has Apple ever dropped OS support for a device that it was selling as new just a year ago? Never.

They were still selling iPhone SE a month ago according to multiple reports on this website!

 

[dumastudetto]

i dont buy it. too many 6's and 6s's in the field, along with the SE. i could almost believe the 5S tho.

I can see the SE being dropped because Apple is expected to unveil a fresh new home screen experience, and this redesign probably won't be suited to smaller screen sizes.

 

[Pafoofnik]

Apple just sold their remaining inventory of brand new SE's online a few months ago, of which I bought one. They had three of these SE dumps over a few week's time. If the rumor is true and my two SE's will no longer be upgradable, I will begin a campaign of forced obsolescence for corporate CEO's, too.

 

[now i see it]

So what if it's true. Not going to miss the next animoji pack or dark mode.
If the older phones are dropped, there better be a good explanation as to why, otherwise we'll come to our own conclusion$

 

[Shanghaichica]

They also have the same ram, 2gb in both, so it's not that.

Dropping the SE at this point would be unforgivable IMHO. It's identical internally to a 6S and younger too.

Oh I didn’t realise the SE also had 2GB. I agree though I think it would be unfair as the SE came out after the 6S.

I think when they continued support for the 5S last year it made it difficult to predict which devices would get support going forward. Prior to that it was quite clear cut with the only real outlier being the iPad 2.

 

[longofest]

They were still selling the SE until this past year. To drop software update support a year later would invite lawsuits - the least they would need to do is to continue to provide security updates to iOS 12, but that's not Apple's MO for iOS - they say if you want latest security patches, upgrade to the latest OS (vs MacOS where you can still get security patches on previous major versions).

 

[1050792]

Very possible to happen. They need a way to make users upgrade to their newer $2000 64GB iPhone's.