Home
Mobiles
Mobiles News
iOS 16 Won't Reach iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, Original iPhone SE; Apple Watch Series 3 Not Eligible for watchOS 9

iOS 16 Won't Reach iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, Original iPhone SE; Apple Watch Series 3 Not Eligible for watchOS 9

Apple has considered the iPhone 8 and iPhone SE (2020) as the oldest models to get iOS 16.

By Jagmeet Singh | Updated: 7 June 2022 19:03 IST

iOS 16 Won't Reach iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, Original iPhone SE; Apple Watch Series 3 Not Eligible for watchOS 9

Photo Credit: Apple

iOS 16 will not be available for experience on iPhone models launched before 2017

Highlights

iPhone 8 is the oldest model in the series to get iOS 16
watchOS 9 compatibility starts from Apple Watch Series 4
Public beta releases of new Apple software updates are coming next month

iOS 16 will not make its way to the iPhone models that are older than the iPhone 8, Apple has confirmed following the announcement of its new iOS release. This simply means that if you have an iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, or the original iPhone SE, you will not be able to experience iOS 16. Similarly, Apple has silently removed the Apple Watch Series 8 from the list of compatible Apple Watch models for watchOS 9. Both the new iOS and watchOS releases — alongside iPadOS 16 and macOS 13 Ventura — will be available for testing under public betas in July and will be released as free software updates for eligible hardware later this year.

As mentioned on the iOS 16 Preview site, the new software is not compatible with the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and the original iPhone SE. The list of compatible models for the iOS 16 update, instead, starts with the iPhone 8 and iPhone SE (2020). The iPhone 8, which debuted in 2017, is the oldest model in the list of eligible devices for iOS 16.

The iPhone 6s series was launched back in 2015, while the iPhone 7 models and the iPhone SE came in 2016.

However, despite being dated, all these models received iOS 15 last year. This is unlike how various Android smartphone makers treat their existing users as they often pull software update support for their older models. Nevertheless, companies including Google and Samsung have started making a change on that front by promising to seed software upgrades for up to four years and security updates for up to five years to their select models.

The list of devices that are ineligible to receive iOS 16 also includes the iPod touch (7th generation) — the last-generation iPod. The iPod touch (7th generation) debuted relatively later in May 2019.

Similar to the iOS update, Apple has confirmed on its website that the Apple Watch Series 3 will not receive the watchOS 9 update. The particular model was launched in 2017 and received watchOS 8 last year.

With the Apple Watch Series 3 becoming ineligible for the update, the Apple Watch Series 4 has become the oldest model in the Apple Watch family to receive watchOS 9.

If you own any of the dated Apple devices, you are now forced by the Cupertino company to upgrade to a newer hardware to get the latest software experience. But nonetheless, Apple is expected to continue to provide security updates to some of the devices that are ineligible to receive the latest software.

Separately, Apple announced at its WWDC 2022 keynote on Monday that public beta releases of iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS Ventura will be available to users for testing in July. Exact release dates are yet to be revealed, though.

Before giving the new software versions as public betas, Apple has released its new iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS Ventura for developers who have signed up for the Apple Developer Program. The company has brought the first developer preview tvOS 9, without any pomp and show.

What is the best value flagship smartphone? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Apple iPhone 6s

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Variants

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Great design
Fantastic performance
3D Touch enables new UI paradigms
Retina Flash on the front is great

Bad
Touch ID is too fast!
16GB storage in base variant
Expensive
Battery life could be better

Read detailed Apple iPhone 6s review

Display 4.70-inch

Processor Apple A9

Front Camera 5-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel

RAM 2GB

Storage 16GB

Battery Capacity 1715mAh

OS iOS 9

Resolution 750x1334 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Choose a variant

Apple iPhone 6s Plus

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Variants

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Fantastic performance
3D Touch enables new UI paradigms
Great camera including brilliant front flash
Good battery life

Bad
Ungainly
Touch ID is too fast!
16GB storage in base variant
Expensive
More big-screen software features would be welcome

Read detailed Apple iPhone 6s Plus review

Display 5.50-inch

Processor Apple A9

Front Camera 5-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel

RAM 2GB

Storage 16GB

Battery Capacity 2750mAh

OS iOS 9

Resolution 1080x1920 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Choose a variant

Apple iPhone 7

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Variants

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Best-in-class performance
Good battery life
Improved cameras
iOS 10, timely updates

Bad
Low light camera performance not best in class

Read detailed Apple iPhone 7 review

Display 4.70-inch

Processor Apple A10 Fusion

Front Camera 7-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel

RAM 2GB

Storage 32GB

Battery Capacity 1960mAh

OS iOS 10

Resolution 750x1334 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Choose a variant

Apple iPhone 7 Plus

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Variants

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Great performance
Dual camera
Excellent battery life
Improved cameras
iOS 10, timely updates

Bad
Low light camera performance not best in class
Expensive
Ungainly

Read detailed Apple iPhone 7 Plus review

Display 5.50-inch

Processor Apple A10 Fusion

Front Camera 7-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel

RAM 3GB

Storage 32GB

Battery Capacity 2900mAh

OS iOS 10

Resolution 1080x1920 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Choose a variant

Apple iPhone SE

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Variants

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Great performance
Good rear camera

Bad
Underwhelming selfie camera
Starts at 16GB storage

Read detailed Apple iPhone SE review

Display 4.00-inch

Processor Apple A9

Front Camera 1.2-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel

RAM 2GB

Storage 16GB

OS iOS 9.3

Resolution 640x1136 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Choose a variant

Apple Watch Series 3 GPS Smartwatch

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Strap Colour Space Grey

Display Size 42mm

Compatible OS iOS 10 and Above

Strap Material Silicone

Dial Shape Rectangle

Display Type OLED Retina

Ideal For Unisex

More Apple Smartwatches

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: iOS 16, iOS, iPhone SE 2020, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, watchOS 9, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4, iPod Touch, Apple, WWDC 2022