- The same iPhones on iOS 18 can also get iOS 19
- An iPad model should be discontinued with iPadOS 19
- Expect official news sometime in June 2025
The launch of iOS 18 this year brought a host of new features to millions of iPhones, and a new leak suggests that the same handsets that can run iOS 18 will also be eligible for an upgrade to iOS 19.
According to the generally reliable iPhoneSoft (via 9to5Mac), handsets starting with the iPhone XS and iPhone XR, launched in 2018, will be able to benefit from next year’s software update. Meanwhile, iOS 18 has dropped support for the iPhone X and iPhone 8, both of which launched in 2017.
There is one caveat, however: not all of the new features in iOS 19 will be available on all iPhones. This is of course something we’re already used to, as newer phones have the processing power to handle Apple Intelligence, while others don’t.
So far, we haven’t heard much about the upgrades iOS 19 will bring, although apparently Apple is planning a ChatGPT-style update for Siri. For now, of course, you can use ChatGPT in Siri for more advanced AI conversations.
iPads and launch schedule
However, the same report states that one iPad model will be left out of the iPadOS 19 rollout. Apparently, the entry-level 7th generation iPad, launched in 2019 and running on an Apple A10 chip, will not be compatible.
The new minimum requirement for iPadOS 19 would be an A12 chip, meaning all other iPads should receive the software update. We can expect a similar set of new features compared to iOS 19, with some tweaks and extras to accommodate the tablet form factor.
If Apple sticks to its usual schedule, the first time we’ll officially hear about iOS 19 and iPadOS 19 will be during WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) 2025, which will likely take place in June. After that, we should benefit from a beta testing period, before a full public release in September 2025.
The new software updates will of course work on the iPhone 17 series, as well as any new iPads Apple decides to release this year. We could well get the 11th generation iPad before the end of 2025, along with a new 8th generation iPad Pro.
