iOS 15 will reportedly drop these iPhones — what you need to know

iPhone 6s
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

It seems that the next version of iOS will give two beloved iPhone models the boot. A new report from French site iPhoneSoft suggests that the upcoming iOS 15 will drop support for the iPhone 6s and prior. That includes the iPhone 6s Plus and original iPhone SE — the one that came out in 2016, not the iPhone SE (2020) Apple released last year. 

According to a source that works at the Plan app at Apple, employees are being sent a memo about which phones will not be supported in the upcoming iOS 15, which is expected to go into public beta in June. 

The iPhone 6s originally launched in September of 2015. Our review gave it high praise for its 3D Touch feature, fast A9 processor, and solid cameras. But its processor and design have been eclipsed by newer models, ones with larger displays, Face ID, and magnificent mobile cameras. 

As for older iPad owners, there might be some bad news as well. iPhoneSoft predicts that the iPad Air 2 from 2014, the iPad mini 4 from 2015, and the fifth generation iPad also from 2015 will too be excluded from the iPadOS 15 update arriving at the same time as iOS 15. 

Granted, iPads are less daily essential items, and can likely run fine on iOS 14 for years to come. But for those wanting to upgrade, both the iPad Pro 2020 and iPad Air 2020 are excellent devices. 

The upcoming iOS 15 beta is expected to go public this June with a consumer launch likely set for sometime between August and October. It's unclear just what features Apple plans to include in the new OS, but we'd expect existing apps will get feature tweaks and there could be a stepped-up focus on AR.

Imad Khan

Imad is currently Senior Google and Internet Culture reporter for CNET, but until recently was News Editor at Tom's Guide. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with the New York Times, the Washington Post, ESPN, Wired and Men's Health Magazine, among others. Outside of work, you can find him sitting blankly in front of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.