Apple's iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 Maintain Support for Older iPhones and Most iPads

If you're using older iPhone or iPad hardware and you're hoping to keep running Apple's latest operating systems, this year's releases bring mostly good news. The iOS 27 update will run on all iPhones that can run iOS 26, all the way back to the iPhone 11 and second-generation iPhone SE. The iPadOS 27 update is slightly less generous, dropping support for the 3rd-generation iPad Air, 8th-generation iPad, and 5th-generation iPad mini (all of these devices used an older A12 Bionic chip; supported devices now use an A13 or better).

Apple says owners of older devices should see performance improvements in iOS 27, thanks in part to an updated CPU scheduler. This scheduler was apparently already included with newer iPhones but has been ported back to older devices with this release. But many of the new features Apple mentioned require support for Apple Intelligence, which remains confined to newer devices with at least 8GB of RAM.

Apple Intelligence still requires an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, an iPhone 16 or newer, or an iPhone Air. On the iPad, support requires an iPad Air or iPad Pro with an M1 or newer. Why this matters: Apple's decision to maintain support for older iPhones with iOS 27 will likely be a relief for users invested in the ecosystem.

However, the drop in support for a few older iPads may push users to upgrade their devices. The divide in features, particularly with Apple Intelligence, highlights a trend where AI-driven features become exclusive to newer hardware. This could lead to a two-tiered experience for Apple users, where those with newer devices enjoy more advanced capabilities while those with older devices receive performance improvements but limited features.

As Apple continues to push the boundaries of AI integration, it remains to be seen how developers and businesses adapt to these changing requirements and what implications this has for the broader tech industry.