Apple iPhone Lifecycle: End Of Life And Support Status
Last updated on November 14, 2024
iPhones are Apple’s lineup of smartphones. Initially released in 2007, the iPhones have used their proprietary operating system which is the iOS.
Support status guide
End of life (EOL) is the end of a product’s useful life. When a product reaches the end of its life cycle, the manufacturer no longer supports it. The following table explains the different phases of a product’s lifecycle. Testing status is when the product is initially released and EOL is when product support is no longer offered. The time between these two points is the support timeframe.
Testing
The software is not yet publicly available. It is in testing phase i.e., alpha, beta, release preview etc.
Active
The software is actively supported by the vendor.
Phasing Out
The software will soon reach its end of life. You need to look for upgrade or migration options. The software will automatically go into phasing out status 2 months before end of life.
End Of Life
The software is no longer supported by the vendor. You need to make sure your system and environment are safe.
Version
Released
Active Support
Discontinued
A newer model of the iPhone is released each year in September, except for a few exceptions. Some non-mainstream iPhones, such as the iPhone SE and iPhone XR are released during other parts of the year.
An iPhone is supported only as long as its support iOS versions are supported. Once the operating system stops receiving the updates, so does the iPhone. However, whether an iPhone is still being manufactured by Apple is another question.
That said, Apple may occasionally release a security update for older iPhones, but that is unpredictable.
Here is a list of iPhones and their supported iOS versions:
| iPhone | Supported iOS |
| iPhone 15 Pro Max | 17 |
| iPhone 15 Pro | 17 |
| iPhone 15 Plus | 17 |
| iPhone 15 | 17 |
| iPhone 14 Pro Max | 16-17 |
| iPhone 14 Pro | 16-17 |
| iPhone 14 Plus | 16-17 |
| iPhone 14 | 16-17 |
| iPhone SE (3rd Gen) | 15-17 |
| iPhone 13 Pro Max | 15-17 |
| iPhone 13 Pro | 15-17 |
| iPhone 13 | 15-17 |
| iPhone 13 Mini | 15-17 |
| iPhone 12 Pro Max | 14-17 |
| iPhone 12 Pro | 14-17 |
| iPhone 12 | 14-17 |
| iPhone 12 Mini | 14-17 |
| iPhone SE (2nd Gen) | 13-17 |
| iPhone 11 Pro Max | 13-17 |
| iPhone 11 Pro | 13-17 |
| iPhone 11 | 13-17 |
| iPhone XR | 12-17 |
| iPhone XS Max | 12-17 |
| iPhone XS | 12-17 |
| iPhone 8 Plus | 11-16 |
| iPhone 8 | 11-16 |
| iPhone X | 11-16 |
| iPhone 7 Plus | 10-15 |
| iPhone 7 | 10-15 |
| iPhone SE (1st Gen) | 9-15 |
| iPhone 6S Plus | 9-15 |
| iPhone 6S | 9-15 |
| iPhone 6 Plus | 8-12 |
| iPhone 6 | 8-12 |
| iPhone 5C | 7-10 |
| iPhone 5S | 7-12 |
| iPhone 5 | 6-10 |
| iPhone 4S | 5-9 |
| iPhone 4 | 4-7 |
| iPhone 3GSS | 3-6 |
| iPhone 3G | 2-4 |
| iPhone 1 | 1-3 |
EOLs