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

MacRumors said:

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.
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Gee, that would be really swell... considering Apple has been "finding" new stock of iPhone SE's here and there and selling them on the Apple Store. They just announced another limited supply of SE's for sale one month ago.

That would be real nice of Apple to sell iPhone SE's so recently but stop support for them this quickly... IF the "rumors" are true.
 
No way they will drop support for the SE.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, yes - it's about time. My old one was quite slow on iOS 12.
 
A7 being dropped is almost a given since it was supposed to be on the chopping block last year if the schedule pattern was maintained. Instead we got iOS 12 which supports all devices that got iOS 11.

The A8 is the one in the weird spot. Devices with it and 1Gb of RAM are barely gasping for air, especially after being hit with iOS 11. But then there are a lot of other A8 devices like the iPad Air 2 (with 2GB of RAM), Apple TV, and of course the recent HomePod. I doubt the HomePod would be on a chopping block in such short lifetime.

A9 devices should be safe. They run iOS 12 like a champ, and managed to squeeze by under iOS 11. However, I do feel like maybe it’s better for Apple to stop the at iOS 12 so they will be out on a good note. I feel iOS 13 won’t be too kind to them,
 
goobot said:
Original iPad
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Support for the original iPad was dropped in 2012 when iOS 6 came out, which it didn’t get. That’s two years after its launch (original iPad launched in 2010) and one year after apple stopped selling it since, unlike the iphone SE or iPad Air 2, the original iPad was removed from Apple’s lineup when the iPad 2 came out (2011).

We have to recognize that the original iPad was extremely limited in that it was the only one to come without any cameras. And I still can’t believe apple did that. They must have known people would want at least one camera on the iPad, and I’m sure having the first iPad model come out without any cameras was a purposeful move to use the camera as a sales gimmick to sell more iPad 2 units the following year.
 
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I’ve got an 8 Plus but I don’t think I’ll upgrade for months after release this time, if ever. I don’t want any dirty tricks to slow down my soon to be less than current device, like making animations run subtly slower for no reason other than to make the device feel slower.

In fact, you have to be wary of “point” updates now. From memory that’s when they introduced the throttling due to battery health, not a major “full number” release.
 
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simonmet said:
I’ve got an 8 Plus but I don’t think I’ll upgrade for months after release this time, if ever. I don’t want any dirty tricks slowing down my soon-to-be less-than-current device, like making animations run subtly slower for no reason than to make the device feel slower.

In fact, you have to be wary of “point” updates now. From memory that’s when they introduced the throttling due to battery health, not a major “full number” release.
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Actually the throttling due to battery health was introduced with the initial release of iOS 11 (major update), but it was hidden. Then, after a scandal broke out when people found out of the throttling, Apple apologized and, in a later point update (11.3 I think), introduced the battery section in settings that now openly reveals whether or not an iphone is being throttled due to battery health.
 
5S and 6 should be dropped. The 6 Plus struggled with its limited RAM when it was released.

There’s no way they drop the SE and 6S this year, both are very popular in emerging markets and should be supported until 2020, at the minimum.
 
UltimaKilo said:
5S and 6 should be dropped. The 6 Plus struggled with its limited RAM when it was released.

There’s no way they drop the SE and 6S this year, both are very popular in emerging markets and should be supported until 2020, at the minimum.
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The SE and 6S are so popular that they’re still being sold by carriers at a lower price in failed state markets (I refuse to call them emerging anymore because they’re not, they’re sunk). Here in Mexico, for example, Telcel still sells the iphone 6s at the equivalent of around $350 USD (they’ve been advertising it on TV for mother’s day).
 
I can’t wait till they drop support for the 8 and below. That way they can stop spending resources developing for “bezeless” devices and focus on one user interface
 
rembert said:
I would as well. I won't buy a larger phone. If people would give me an XS for free, I'd swap it for an SE immediately - I don't care about the difference in price. I've seen people around me doing exactly this.

If the SE won't be supported anymore by Apple then my next phone will be a similarly sized non-Apple phone. No doubt about that. For larger screens I use my iPad, my MBP and my iMac. I can learn to live without continuity, without Apple Pay and without all those other iOS features I grew accustomed to. If I might return to Apple later on? I'm not sure. Buying a non-Apple smartphone might very well become my first step to get entirely out of the Apple eco-system. It's not like there's no alternative.

What is needed to get Apple to understand an appearantly huge amount of people just explicitly don't want to have a bigger phone. To be honest, I'd even like my iPhone to be a tad smaller.
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Genuinely curious what you end up switching too. Seems like all Android phones are massive, and I think that gives Apple confidence to abandon the smaller form factor.

Personally I think the iPhone X/S is the best size. They did make it I think around 7% larger in area than the older 4.7" iPhone models, which I think was perfection for me. When I use my wife's SE like if she's driving and needs me to text someone for her, it feels like a toy phone almost. Sure it's high quality, but the keyboard feels so cramped and I can't type well anymore. But for her it's perfect because she's my little wifey. And there are lots of people like her. Even some regular sized guys prefer it at my work.

Like I said on here for a long time before the SE was announced, it's stupid for Apple to avoid this market segment. The SE sold well and then dwindled when they never updated it. But I wonder if they will release something 7% larger than the SE with a full top to bottom display with notch. However, I wonder if the reason they have to wait is because they are working on shrinking the size of the notch. Think about it—if the same sized notch was on the SE, there wouldn't be much room to the left or right for the time or other network status indicators. Apple has been rumored to be working on shrinking the notch, so maybe if we get that in September then an XE model or something will follow in the Spring.

Maybe they could do XR Max and the XR would be the new SE. There was a rumor about a smaller XR. If the current XR is priced at $749 then perhaps the smaller one could be $649-699. That would be priced well above what the SE was priced at, with the Liquid Retina display and maybe even dual cameras like the new XR. That would be one heck of a device and I would definitely get that for my wife without question. But for now she's just waiting like she did with her old iPhone 5. Her hands and pockets aren't getting any bigger.
 
Your list has a few errors in, I've corrected below in bold
It looks like you just put 4 years of support for each device before being dropped, when in fact the earliest iPhones (original & 3G) were only, supported for ~3 years, the 3GS and 4 were supported for ~4 years, the 4S and 5 were supported for ~5 years and the 5s is almost at 6 years, so the trend has been towards longer support over time. While I don't expect the trend of ever longer support periods to continue indefinitely I also doubt Apple is suddenly going to reverse course and dramatically reduce support periods for their devices either. I would predict 5-6 years of support for devices released with the latest SOC going forward.
code-m said:
iPhone (A1) released 2007, discontinued in 2008 and dropped 2011. iOS support ended in 2010
iPhone 3G (A2) released 2008, discontinued in 2010 and dropped 2012. iOS support ended in 2011
iPhone 3GS (A3) released 2009, discontinued in 2012 and dropped 2013.
iPhone 4 (A4) released 2010, discontinued in 2013 and dropped 2014.
iPhone 4S (A5) released 2011, discontinued in 2014 and dropped 2015. iOS support ended in 2016
iPhone 5 (A6) released 2012, discontinued in 2013 and dropped 2016. iOS support ended in 2017
iPhone 5S (A7) released 2013, discontinued in 2016 and dropped 2017. presently supported but likely to be dropped this year (2019)
iPhone 6 (A8) released 2014, discontinued in 2018 and dropped 2018. presently supported, possibly dropped this year or next year (2019 or 2020)
iPhone 6S (A9) released 2015, discontinued in 2018 and dropped 2019/20 (predicted).
iPhone SE (A9) released 2016, discontinued in 2019 and dropped 2019/20 (predicted).
iPhone 7 (A10) released 2016, discontinued in 2019 and dropped 2020/21 (predicted).
iPhone 8 (A11) released 2017, discontinued in 2020 and dropped 2021/22 (predicted).
iPhone X (A11) released 2017, discontinued in 2018 presently supported and dropped 2023/24 (predicted).
iPhone XR (A12) released 2018, discontinued in 2019 (predicted) presently supported and dropped 2023/24 (predicted).
iPhone XS (A12) released 2018, discontinued in 2019 (predicted) presently supported and dropped 2024/25 (predicted).
iPhone ? (A?) released 2019
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But correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t the iPhone 6 only have 1 GB of ram and the 6s has 2 GB of ram. That makes a huge difference in a new user intensive iOS that always comes with more and more features.
 
There's no way they would drop support for the SE, they just sold it a couple of months ago.

Maybe the 5S will be dropped but I can't imagine anything beyond that.
 
JosephAW said:
How about a 32 bit version for older devices so all can be on iOS 13?
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From the iphone 5s onwards, all devices support 64 bit. Owners of devices older than the 5s (i.e, iphone 5/5c and earlier) is a shrinking market. Why would apple invest any resources for them?
 
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code-m said:
On average an iPhone receives 4-5 years of iOS updates and support, compare this to any AndroidOS phone, this is great value for an initial higher cost of purchase.

iPhone (A1) released 2007, discontinued in 2008 and dropped 2011.
iPhone 3G (A2) released 2008, discontinued in 2010 and dropped 2012.
iPhone 3GS (A3) released 2009, discontinued in 2012 and dropped 2013.
iPhone 4 (A4) released 2010, discontinued in 2013 and dropped 2014.
iPhone 4S (A5) released 2011, discontinued in 2014 and dropped 2015.
iPhone 5 (A6) released 2012, discontinued in 2013 and dropped 2016.
iPhone 5S (A7) released 2013, discontinued in 2016 and dropped 2017.
iPhone 6 (A8) released 2014, discontinued in 2018 and dropped 2018.
iPhone 6S (A9) released 2015, discontinued in 2018 and dropped 2019/20 (predicted).
iPhone SE (A9) released 2016, discontinued in 2019 and dropped 2019/20 (predicted).
iPhone 7 (A10) released 2016, discontinued in 2019 and dropped 2020/21 (predicted).
iPhone 8 (A11) released 2017, discontinued in 2020 and dropped 2021/22 (predicted).
iPhone X (A11) released 2017, discontinued in 2018 presently supported and dropped 2023/24 (predicted).
iPhone XR (A12) released 2018, discontinued in 2019 (predicted) presently supported and dropped 2023/24 (predicted).
iPhone XS (A12) released 2018, discontinued in 2019 (predicted) presently supported and dropped 2024/25 (predicted).
iPhone ? (A?) released 2019
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Why would the X get 2 more years than the 8 when they have the same cpu and ram?
 
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code-m said:
You do realize your device will still turn on and be usable, you just won’t receive anymore iOS upgrades. If you are happy with what you have today then why be envious of what the future holds. Cannot buy a Tesla Model 3 and request for Model S improvements.
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Uhhh ... what? What makes you think I don’t realize that, or that I am envious of anything? Did you mean to quote somebody else? That’s the only reason that makes any sense to me, tbh.

These forums are so silly sometimes.
 
Nikiaf said:
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.
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Would it? It's had it's 5 iOS versions (8 through 12 inclusive) same as a lot of previous phones enjoyed. Apple specifically called out the 6 plus as a device that benefitted from iOS 12's performance optimisations when introducing iOS 12, so I'd say it would be more surprising if they opted to support it an extra year on an iOS version which won't be optimisation focused...
 
dukebound85 said:
Why would the X get 2 more years than the 8 when they have the same cpu and ram?
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8 plus had 3GB of RAM not the 8. ;)
[doublepost=1557531216][/doublepost]
duervo said:
Uhhh ... what? What makes you think I don’t realize that, or that I am envious of anything? Did you mean to quote somebody else? That’s the only reason that makes any sense to me, tbh.

These forums are so silly sometimes.
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Free country and all :p;)
 
Shanghaichica said:
They can’t support a device indefinitely. Also at the moment Apple have to test each device to see how it will handle the new update. They may then tweak the update to make it run better on certain devices or decided that a device can’t run the update at all. Even with this process some people still complain once they have upgraded. They can’t test every update on every device they’ve ever made indefinitely and if the goal is to let the user decide if they want to upgrade would there even be a point in testing the update to make sure it’s compatible with said device?
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Ever wrote or implied they should support a device indefinitely. They should not. Please read the original post I replied to.
cocky jeremy said:
Nope. People will whine and file lawsuits.
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No[e. Let them. I cou.d not I,anime updating any OS without getting some sort of input from others before doing it.
 
bodonnell202 said:
Your list has a few errors in, I've corrected below in bold
It looks like you just put 4 years of support for each device before being dropped, when in fact the earliest iPhones (original & 3G) were only, supported for ~3 years, the 3GS and 4 were supported for ~4 years, the 4S and 5 were supported for ~5 years and the 5s is almost at 6 years, so the trend has been towards longer support over time. While I don't expect the trend of ever longer support periods to continue indefinitely I also doubt Apple is suddenly going to reverse course and dramatically reduce support periods for their devices either. I would predict 5-6 years of support for devices released with the latest SOC going forward.
Click to expand...

Tried to keep it simple, some feature were not supported completely on prior generation hardware. However, yes I have noticed the trend that iPhone’s have been receiving longer iOS upgrades. The likely scenario is that the battery would probably need to be replaced by then if not sooner.
 
lartola said:
Support for the original iPad was dropped in 2012 when iOS 6 came out, which it didn’t get. That’s two years after its launch (original iPad launched in 2010) and one year after apple stopped selling it since, unlike the iphone SE or iPad Air 2, the original iPad was removed from Apple’s lineup when the iPad 2 came out (2011).

We have to recognize that the original iPad was extremely limited in that it was the only one to come without any cameras. And I still can’t believe apple did that. They must have known people would want at least one camera on the iPad, and I’m sure having the first iPad model come out without any cameras was a purposeful move to use the camera as a sales gimmick to sell more iPad 2 units the following year.
Click to expand...
That’s still a year later. Apple put half the ram in the iPad than the iPhone 4 which ran the same processor. Apple definitely did it on purpose to screw early adopters just like they did with the Apple Watch.
 
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