Report lists which iPhone models will receive iOS 19 next year
Since Apple is still in the process of disseminating iOS 18-based updates, and will be for several months yet, you might think that it's too early to talk about iOS 19. But if you're a long-time PhoneArena reader, you know that anytime is the time to talk about future hardware and software regardless of the date and manufacturer. While iPhone users would love to know what new features to expect in iOS 19, more important is finding out whether your current iPhone model is expected to receive it in the first place.
According to the French site iPhoneSoft, if your iPhone is currently eligible to be updated to iOS 18 (or, you're already running an iOS 18 OS build on your iPhone), congratulations are in order because your iPhone will be receiving iOS 19. To reiterate, every iPhone model that supports iOS 18 will supposedly support iOS 19. Some older models may not be able to run every feature of iOS 19, but this is quite typical.
If this report is true, the oldest iPhone models to receive iOS 19 next September will be the iPhone XS, XS Max, and iPhone XR. That trio was released in 2018. Unfortunately it appears as though those using older iPad tablets won't be as lucky. For example, the seventh generation iPad released in 2019 and powered by the A10 application processor will not be updated to iPadOS 19 says the report.
The iPhone XS Max and XS along with the not pictured XR will all receive iOS 19 next year. | Imagfe credit-PhoneArena
Developer Previews for iOS 19 and iPadOS 19 should be released around the same time WWDC 2025 is held in June. The stable version of iOS 19 and iPadOS 19 should be available next September. Back in November, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggested that iOS 19 will have staggered releases similar to what Apple has done with Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.
The new AI features have been rolled out using separate updates such as iOS 18.1 which included the first group of Apple Intelligence features. The second batch was part of iOS 18.2 with more Siri AI improvements scheduled for iOS 18.4. The report from iPhoneSoft also says that iOS 19 might have fewer new features than iOS 18 not including those belonging to Apple Intelligence.
So if you own an iPhone XS, an iPhone XS Max, or an iPhone XR, you will still have iOS support for at least one more year. Will these models be eligible to install the iOS 20 update in 2026? That is way too early to call.
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