Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

[ipedro]

Holding onto my iPhone 12 Pro Max has turned out to be a really good decision year after year. This phone has held up so well, the chrome hardware is still beautiful, no scratches or cracks (always used it caseless) and I haven't missed out on any important features.

Apple Intelligence on mobile will eventually be useful when the new Siri is released but so far it's fine accessing some of those features on my MacBookPro or iPad Pro. Even some of the features restricted this year like AI Shortcuts and Apple Wallet order tracking can be created and used on a Mac.

5 years with the same phone and I dont feel compelled to update. Now, that's incredible support and lifetime value.

 

[bviktor]

So AI features that utilize the AI coprocessor only run on phones that have one. Shocking.

Yet the comment section seem to lose their sh*t over it.

"It should be able to" is not an argument.

 

[turbineseaplane]

So AI features that utilize the AI coprocessor only run on phones that have one. Shocking.

Yet the comment section seem to lose their sh*t over it.

"It should be able to" is not an argument.

What co-processor limitation are you referring to?

The neural engine has been around since the 8/8 Plus/X releases.

 

[mjs916]

Now that's ridiculous. Typical Apple and their "you have the old iPhone" FOMO tactics. Okay, "Visual Intelligence" may require some power, but the rest? These are basic things an iPhone 14 Pro should definitely be capable of handling. There's always something with Apple...

This brings to mind that classic Disney song:

Well I’ve seen a horse fly,
I’ve seen a dragon fly,
I’ve seen a house fly,
I’ve even seen an elephant fly!

But I’ve been done seen,
about everything,
When I’ve seen a device without 8 GB of RAM handle poll suggestions!

 

[boyreinvented]

I don’t understand people complaining that features aren’t available for their older phone. You bought your phone with a subset of features, Apple don’t have to give you anything more than that.

 

[Premium1]

IMO, there needs to be an option to prevent group chats. "Charles has group messages turned off"

Or be able to leave them no matter the number of users in the group. Like let me leave a chat (even if some are on ios or android). **** is whack. And no it still doesn't work right even with RCS.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Or be able to leave them no matter the number of users in the group. Like let me leave a chat (even if some are on ios or android). **** is whack. And no it still doesn't work right even with RCS.

YES PLEASE YES THIS

OMG ... I absolutely can't stand being trapped in group chats.
I have several that I'm constantly playing "delete & block this conversation" whack a mole with.

It's completely miserable

 

[turbineseaplane]

I don’t understand people complaining that features aren’t available for their older phone. You bought your phone with a subset of features, Apple don’t have to give you anything more than that.

Because these aren't bathtubs ... they are computers that run software.
Software gets updated.

It'd be nice get as much of those updates as is reasonable and not have new software features artificially gated behind required hardware upgrades, which is a lot of happens now with Apple.

 

[svish]

Looks like any kind of AI feature is supported only on models that support Apple Intelligence, that is 15 Pro and newer. Think the pattern should continue in the years to come. Though older devices are supported, an increasing number of new features will be limited to 15 Pro/Pro Max and 16 series and newer.

 

[Bazza1]

Or, in other words, you must activate Apple Intelligence for these features (created to justify the existence of AI) to work on your phones.
As long as Apple allows it (and yes, no guarantee with 26), I'll be keeping Apple Intelligence - ever the oxymoron - off.