Like iOS 11, iOS 12 will support iPhone 5s

iOS 12 is not expected to phase out older hardware such as iPhone 5s.

As first noted Friday by French blog MacGeneration (Google Translate), WebKit’s mailing list mentions a test conducted in January that involved user agents identified as iOS 12 running on the iPhone 5s simulator, which mimics the iPhone 5s hardware in software.

WebKit is the rendering engine behind Safari. Curiously, references to iOS 12 devices recently began appearing in web logs across the Internet, including in our own site analytics.

9to5Mac observes that if the report is true, then iPhone 5s will get a year of updates more than what both iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 got with five years of major iOS updates.

For guidance, the following devices are officially supported by the current iOS 11 edition:

iPhone

  • iPhone X
  • iPhone 8
  • iPhone 8 Plus
  • iPhone 7
  • iPhone 7 Plus
  • iPhone 6s
  • iPhone 6s Plus
  • iPhone 6
  • iPhone 6 Plus
  • iPhone SE
  • iPhone 5s

iPad

  • 12.9-inch iPad Pro (second generation)
  • 12.9-inch iPad Pro (first generation)
  • 9.7-inch iPad Pro
  • 10.5-inch iPad Pro
  • iPad (2017 model)
  • iPad (2018 model)
  • iPad Air 2
  • iPad Air
  • iPad mini 4
  • iPad mini 3
  • iPad mini 2

iPod touch

  • iPod touch (sixth generation)

Even if iOS 12 does not cut off iPhone 5s, advanced iOS 12 features are unlikely to be supported like with prior iOS versions. As an example, recording H.265-encoded video or shooting in iOS 11’2 new HEIF image format requires the A10 Fusion chip or better.

iOS is apparently going to have another Snow Leopard-like moment.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported a while ago that Apple’s leadership had decided to delay major iOS 12 features in order to focus on under-the-hood performance and bug fixes.

iOS 9 similarly brought enhanced performance and other refinements.

iOS 12, Apple’s next iteration of its mobile operating system, will be previewed at the company’s annual pilgrimage for developers this summer, about a month and half away.