IOS 26 Expected to Drop Support for iPhone XS, XS Max, XR

Apple is expected to announce iOS 26 at WWDC 2025, with the first developer beta available on June 9 and a public release in September. A reliable leak suggests that iOS 26 will drop support for iPhones older than the iPhone 11, specifically excluding the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, which were released in 2018 and powered by the A12 Bionic chip. These excluded models will continue to receive security updates on iOS 18 but will no longer get new features or major updates. The new iOS 26 is rumored to bring a significant redesign and introduce advanced features like Apple Intelligence, which will require an iPhone 15 Pro or newer for full functionality. The compatibility list for iOS 26 includes iPhone 11 and later models, the iPhone SE (2nd generation and later), and all upcoming iPhone 17 models. This change reflects Apple's typical strategy of phasing out older devices while maintaining security support for several years after feature updates end.