Is it too early in the year for iOS 18-related guarantees? Probably. But that can’t stop the rumor mill from spinning, and although said spinning is not completely out of control yet, a number of recent reports have painted the next OS version a very promising picture in terms of its importance, and now a new puzzle piece is (allegedly) falling into place to put a big smile on the faces of owners of a few outdated Apple devices.
We’re talking about the 2018-released iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max, all of which ran iOS 12 out the box before receiving five major software updates and now gearing up for their sixth OS promotion. That’s right, an insider with a proven track record is today cited by the almost always reliable folks over at MacRumors as the source for a very encouraging iOS 18 compatibility rumor.
Specifically, these are all of the iPhones currently expected to support iOS 18 when the update inevitably comes out sometime in the fall:
Apart from the aforementioned six year-old XR, XS, and XS Max, there are obviously no surprising names on this list, as well as no shocking omissions. Released in 2020, the modest second-gen iPhone SE will of course be treated to the same iOS 18 makeover in September (presumably) as all of its bigger and/or newer brothers, and in addition to those 24 handsets, all members of the upcoming iPhone 16 family will also support the next OS version.
If all this pans out, there’s clearly a very good chance the iPhone SE 2 and iPhone 11 roster will be compatible with next year’s iOS 19 as well, which is unlikely to be the case for the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max.
While iOS 18 is thus expected to not drop support for any iOS 17-compatible devices, iPadOS 18 could come to iPad Pros released in 2018 and later but not the 10.5 and 12.9-inch models from 2017. That’s a bit disappointing to hear but not altogether surprising given the advanced age and now-modest Apple A10X Fusion processor powering said 2017 iPad Pro generation.
The Apple A10 Fusion-based iPad 9.7 from 2018 and iPad 10.2 from 2019 are also unlikely to be found on the compatibility list of the iPadOS 18, while 2020 and later editions alongside iPad Airs and iPad minis released in 2019 and later should have no problem running the next OS build.
