Will AirPods Pro 3 be compatible with iOS 18? Need iOS 26 for All Features? [MERGED]

[msephton]

This is so disappointing.

The day I bought the AirPods Pro 3 I was running the latest iOS 18 on an iPhone 16 Pro that isn't even a year old.

My heart hopes they will add support to iOS 18, but my head says there is no chance.

I will probably return mine to my point of purchase by the deadline of October 19th. Sucks.

 

[tivoboy]

Yeah I went ahead and returned them.. a little about fit, but more the inability to test them or most features without ios 26 was a non starter.

 

[msephton]

Apple called an acquaintance of mine and said that they won't be updating iOS 18 for this.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It's ridiculous that Apple won't ensure full compatibility with the latest iOS or two for their accessories.

There's no pro-consumer rationale there at all, in fact quite the opposite.

 

[msephton]

I'm going to return mine to John Lewis. I did a chat with their website and they also confirmed iOS 18 would not be made compatible. I figure I can return them as faulty, as I can't update from iOS 18 due to some other health devices not working with 26.