14 DAY TRIAL // iOS 12 is expected to be previewed by Apple at WWDC in early June before the global rollout in the fall, most likely in September as per the company’s typical release schedule.
And while no official word has been said on what iOS 12 could bring new to iPhone users, evidence found by MacGeneration provides us with an early glimpse into the supported device list. The good news is that the iPhone 5s is very likely to be supported by the new iOS update, probably as the last major iOS release that this device gets.
Apple officially abandoned the iPhone 4s with the debut of iOS 9, while iOS 10 pulled the plug on iPhone 5. And while many expected iOS 11 to do the same for iPhone 5s, it looks like only iOS 12 will mark the end of OS updates for this old model.
The cited source came across testing logs of a WebKit build running on an iPhone 5s simulator, proving that support for the old model is at least being considered.
Performance limitations
And while iOS 12 might indeed run on the iPhone 5s, this doesn’t necessarily mean that all features will also be offered. Apple could restrict certain functionality to newer devices, as better hardware is required, but also in an attempt to deliver decent performance despite the obvious limitations.
iPhone 5s was launched in the fall of 2013 with iOS 7 and can still run iOS 11.3, the update that Apple shipped earlier this month. It came with hardware like an Apple A7 processor and 1GB of RAM, while storage options came down to 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The device featured a display measuring just 4.0 inches and 640x1136 pixels.
One of the reasons Apple still wants to support the iPhone 5s with new iOS releases could be related to the popularity of 4-inch iPhone models these days. The company is believed to also plan a second-generation iPhone SE that could also be introduced at WWDC this year.