iPhone 6(S)/Plus When will apple drop support for the 6s

[raymanh]

I'm looking to upgrade my 5c to either a 6s or 7. I plan to keep it for a few years. If it's likely that the iPhone 6s will no longer support the latest iOS's within the next year or two, then I'll get the 7.

What's you thoughts on how long the 6s will be able to run the latest iOS? I appreciate this may be quite speculative, but also I do not know the iOS upgrade cycles so am not sure.

Thanks

 

[jr866gooner]

I'm looking to upgrade my 5c to either a 6s or 7. I plan to keep it for a few years. If it's likely that the iPhone 6s will no longer support the latest iOS's within the next year or two, then I'll get the 7.

What's you thoughts on how long the 6s will be able to run the latest iOS? I appreciate this may be quite speculative, but also I do not know the iOS upgrade cycles so am not sure.

Thanks

Well if Apple follow the same trend the 5S is still supported and rumoured to be ok iOS 12 too! That was released 2013!

 

[Christoffee]

My thought is that RAM is a problem for updates. The iPhones 6 in the wild I see are dogs (1GB of RAM), but the iPhones 6S (like mine) still seem great (2GB of RAM).

The iPhone 8 also has 2GB.

My theory is that in terms of iOS updates the 6S has a few years left in it. It performs great on iOS11 and I am hopeful that it’ll be great on iOS12 too, especially as Apple are concentrating on performance and reliability at the moment.

 

[mtneer]

Actually do you really want Apple's "support" on a close to 3 year old hardware now? If Apple's past is to go by, it may just frustrate you to spend money to upgrade to their latest hardware.

 

[JPack]

Apple has historically dropped support for old iPhone models based on the Application Processor.

In this case, the iPhone 6s has an A9 from 2015. Typically, Apple supports major iOS updates for 4 years. So you can expect iPhone 6s to support up to iOS 13.

 

[44267547]

I'm looking to upgrade my 5c to either a 6s or 7. I plan to keep it for a few years. If it's likely that the iPhone 6s will no longer support the latest iOS's within the next year or two, then I'll get the 7.

What's you thoughts on how long the 6s will be able to run the latest iOS? I appreciate this may be quite speculative, but also I do not know the iOS upgrade cycles so am not sure.

Thanks

I know I’m not answering all your questions, but I think you would be rather foolish to upgrade to the 6S and _not_ the 7. That Would also eliminate the issue of you worrying about how long the 6S would be supported for. The iPhone 7 is just a better phone with extended battery life, water resistance, stereo speakers, A10 Fusion Processor, etc.

 

[timeconsumer]

I'm looking to upgrade my 5c to either a 6s or 7. I plan to keep it for a few years. If it's likely that the iPhone 6s will no longer support the latest iOS's within the next year or two, then I'll get the 7.

What's you thoughts on how long the 6s will be able to run the latest iOS? I appreciate this may be quite speculative, but also I do not know the iOS upgrade cycles so am not sure.

Thanks

I’d go 7 if you can. Apple released a new iPad in March with the A10 Fusion chip (same as the 7) so it would be a safer upgrade if you’re looking to keep it a few years.

 

[raymanh]

I’d go 7 if you can. Apple released a new iPad in March with the A10 Fusion chip (same as the 7) so it would be a safer upgrade if you’re looking to keep it a few years.

That makes sense. If they're releasing new products with the same chip as the iPhone 7, then the 7 will surely last a while. I'm surprised the new iPads aren't using the A11 chip in the 8 and X. Strange to sell a older phone with more power than a newer tablet.

Thanks for all the replies. I think a 7 is the way to go. From looking at geekbench it's also 42% faster than the 6S, whereas the 8 is only 27% faster than the 7. Seems like the 7 is the best value right now to buy used.

 

[timeconsumer]

That makes sense. If they're releasing new products with the same chip as the iPhone 7, then the 7 will surely last a while. I'm surprised the new iPads aren't using the A11 chip in the 8 and X. Strange to sell a older phone with more power than a newer tablet.

Thanks for all the replies. I think a 7 is the way to go. From looking at geekbench it's also 42% faster than the 6S, whereas the 8 is only 27% faster than the 7. Seems like the 7 is the best value right now to buy used.

That would be my thought as well with the iPad releasing with an A10 chip.

If you buy used I would recommend taking advantage of the $29 battery replacement before the end of the year.

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/12/30/apple-29-usd-iphone-battery-replacements-now-avail/

 

[mjschabow]

Hopefully not for a while. The 6s Plus is probably my favorite Apple device. It still runs smooth!

 

[ftaok]

I would expect that Apple would support it for about 2 years after it stops selling them. So assuming they discontinue them (and the SE) in Sep18 AND iOS 12 releases at the same time ... I would say that the 6S would be compatible up to iOS14, but likely without all of the new hardware dependent features.

Also, in regards to the question of 6S vs 7, I would go with the 7, unless you absolutely need the headphone jack.

 

[44267547]

I'm surprised the new iPads aren't using the A11 chip in the 8 and X. Strange to sell a older phone with more power than a newer tablet..

Technically, the 2017 iPad Pros are using the A10X Processor, but the iPhone 8/X is using the A11 processor, which released after the fact of the iPad Pros in June 2017. The A-10 fusion processor is being used in the entry level budget 208 iPad, because Apple likely doesn’t need to include such the A11 Bionic processor for an iPad that will be used for more basic measures and the educational sector.

 

[aakshey]

iOS 14 or iOS 15 will drop support for the 6s.

However, the 6s will run like junk on iOS 13. And so will iPhone 7. iOS 12 might be okay though if Apple goes for their so called performance boost iOS update which too will be slower than iOS 11 but might be tolerable. The same can be said about iPhone 7.

iPhone 8/X might be okay on iOS 13. Too early to say. Should be tolerable but may not be too fast. Or may even be decent. But iOS 14 is certainly not going to be acceptable on any current iPhone.

An iPad with the same chip as an iPhone is likely going to last an additional 12 months or so in terms of tolerable performance. Even though final support for any iDevice depends on the chip and ends at the same time regardless of the type of iDevice.

 

[tonybarnaby]

7 or even 8. Over the course of 3 years, a 7/8 won’t be that much more. Literally a few dollars per month. I’d get the 8 if you can swing it, followed by the 7. The difference in price between the 6s and the 7 is not worth cheating out on the 6s to save a few bucks.

 

[Jimmy James]

Budget and price are big factors here. If you're on a tight budget the older hardware can be substantially cheaper. And 6s and newer is still great hardware. If pure not on a tight budget get one of the newer ones.

 

[Vivian125]

My thought is that RAM is a problem for updates. The iPhones 6 in the wild I see are dogs (1GB of RAM), but the iPhones 6S (like mine) still seem great (2GB of RAM).

The iPhone 8 also has 2GB.

My theory is that in terms of iOS updates the 6S has a few years left in it. It performs great on iOS11 and I am hopeful that it’ll be great on iOS12 too, especially as Apple are concentrating on performance and reliability at the moment.

Well sometimes It isnt only on ram. You have to consider 6 Things also:
1. Year and old of device- Dis is the most important, the older the device is the lesser chance of getting newer iOS version
2. Processor and its Chip - Such as lower NM to avoid overheating. 6S still its NM high making it prone to overheat when running heavy apps unlike newer iPhone has lower NM.
3. Ram - this is only make device capable running apps to reduce reloading
4. Clocked rate of Gigahertz- does it have extracores? Is it underclocked or overclocked? Or only dual core like da iPhone 6S/6 and below? Core can be a factor whether it will support more iOS version just like the 4 and 4s before
5. Features- such as hevc encoding, water resistant, hexacores, dolby vision, bluetooth 5.0 that 6S lacks
6. Power Efficiency- such as higher battery capacity, uses less power.

If Ram is the only key for an iphone and iPad to support latest version how come iPad 3 with 1 GB of ram did not get iOS 10 even the iPad 3 has the same ram of iPhone 6? Or iPad 4? See??

 

[jschnee21]

I just upgraded to an XS Max from a 6s, and while I really like the camera, there are many days I still opine for the reception, home button, and single handed operation of my old 6s (which my wife and kids have). The speed on iOS 12 is still very good, even in most games. The LTE performance hangs right with my XS Max in most cases (except the newest LTE-A) towers. And the 6s has much better RF sensitivity and low signal performance (thanks Qualcomm!)

The value for money of the 6s was outstanding. While my XS Max is “nice” at more than twice the price I’m not sure what I got for my money other than branding rights (-:

I’ve heard the 8 and 8plus are very good as well.

Sure do miss the home button. Though I like faceId, usually.

 

[Jimmy James]

Hopefully not for a while. The 6s Plus is probably my favorite Apple device. It still runs smooth!

It’s the first phone that’s demonstrated long term performance.

 

[KrisseFI]

I had 6S+ and the performance boost in ios 12 over ios 11 was noticeaple. Now I have 7+ and it’s little faster(actually 6S+ was fast enough for me), but display is far better than 6+ and it doesn’t get so hot easily. Camera is also better. I would prefer 7+ over 6S+. I think 6S will get couple ios version updates tough.

 

[Atomic1977]

I just got my first iPhone for Christmas 2018. It’s a normal iPhone 6 and it works great. It has iOS 12.1.2 and I expect it will last for a long time. I think Apple should continue to support all its products until they are no longer able to function to today’s standards.

 

[I7guy]

I just upgraded to an XS Max from a 6s, and while I really like the camera, there are many days I still opine for the reception, home button, and single handed operation of my old 6s (which my wife and kids have). The speed on iOS 12 is still very good, even in most games. The LTE performance hangs right with my XS Max in most cases (except the newest LTE-A) towers. And the 6s has much better RF sensitivity and low signal performance (thanks Qualcomm!)

The value for money of the 6s was outstanding. While my XS Max is “nice” at more than twice the price I’m not sure what I got for my money other than branding rights (-:

I’ve heard the 8 and 8plus are very good as well.

Sure do miss the home button. Though I like faceId, usually.

It depends on whether the upgrade in tech from the 6s to the max matters:

• Bigger oled screen
• Wide gamut, True Tone and hdr/Dolby vision
• Stereo speakers and stereo video recording
• Fun stuff with Animoji
• Smart hdr
• Portrait mode/dual lenses/optical zoom
• Daily battery life
• Dynamic range video

I’m sure there are some I’m missing, but this is off the top of my head.

 

[cynics]

iOS support generally stops when the device doesn't fit the ecosystem very well whether it based on usability or more so security. Or it can be stopped for more arbitrary reasons like to avoid bad PR.

For example, the iPhone 5 was released 1 year before the iPhone 5C and while not a good example due to the similarities with the device hardware they both lost iOS support at the same time due to the lack of 64 bit support.

The iPhone 6S and 7 both have BT 4.2 support whereas the 8 and newer have BT 5 support. If BT 5 became a requirement they could both lose iOS support at same time.

Maybe the iPhone 5S through 8 will see 2 more versions of iOS (total of 4 iOS updates for the iPhone 8 and 8 iOS updates for the iPhone 5s) and then all be dropped together due to a security requirement of FaceID.

Those examples are just to illustrate a point, not that I think they are accurate. Because aside from a faster SOC and different radios if the 6S loses support before the 7 it could just be to avoid making the 7 look like it not lasted as long....aka completely arbitrary based around public perception....

 

[KingCelloFace]

I know I’m not answering all your questions, but I think you would be rather foolish to upgrade to the 6S and _not_ the 7. That Would also eliminate the issue of you worrying about how long the 6S would be supported for. The iPhone 7 is just a better phone with extended battery life, water resistance, stereo speakers, A10 Fusion Processor, etc.

I still can't get over the whole no headphone jack thing, so that makes the 6s a better phone in my eyes. Phones all accomplish the same basic things though so it's honestly not a big deal either way

 

[Ffosse]

It's easy to manage with a dongle or just go wireless.

 

[Atomic1977]

I believe the 6S is the oldest phone that will run IOS 14 the last that I heard and saw. My normal iphone six doesn't go past IOS 12 POINT SOMETHING. I am actually going to be moving up to a Iphone 8 in 2020 I am getting donated one from a good friend who upgraded to a 11.