IOS version history

iOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. and was first released as iPhone OS in June 2007, coinciding with the launch of the first generation iPhone. iPhone OS was renamed iOS following the release of the iPad, starting with iOS 4. With iOS 13, Apple began offering a separate operating system, iPadOS, for the iPad. iOS is also the foundation of the newer audioOS and tvOS, and shares some of its code with macOS. New iOS versions are released every year alongside new iPhone models. From its launch in 2007 until 2010, this occurred in June or July, since then, new major versions are released in September or October. Since the launch of the iPhone in June 2007, there have been 17 major releases of iOS. The current major version of iOS is iOS 17, released on September 18, 2023.

iPhone OS 1
Apple announced iPhone OS 1 at the iPhone keynote on January 9, 2007, and it was released to the public alongside the first-generation iPhone on June 29, 2007. No official name was given when the iPhone was released, and Steve Jobs just said "iPhone runs OS X". During the development phase of iPhone OS 1, "probably 16, 17 different concepts" were developed. Many on the team were skeptical of the feasibility of a touchscreen keyboard, and believed that users would prefer hardware keyboards. A number of different user interfaces were prototyped, including one that involved a multi-touch click-wheel.

iPhone OS 1 was criticized for its lack of support for Adobe Flash web content, copy and paste, and Bluetooth stereo headphones. It also lacked support for third-party native apps, and only supported web apps, which was criticized by reviewers and developers, including John Carmack.

iPhone OS 1.1 was the first version supported by the first generation iPod Touch. iPhone OS 1.1.4 is the final version of iPhone OS 1 for the first generation iPhone, with iPhone OS 1.1.5 being the final version of iPhone OS 1 available for the first generation iPod Touch. It was succeeded by iPhone OS 2 on July 11, 2008.

iPhone OS 2
Apple announced iPhone OS 2 at a March 6 keynote, and it was released to the public on July 11, 2008, alongside the iPhone 3G.

iPhone OS 2 was the first release to have the App Store and to come with an official iPhone SDK allowing third-party developers to create native iPhone apps. It also added many enterprise features, including Microsoft Exchange support through ActiveSync for push emails, push contact and push calendars, and support for IPsec VPNs.

Apple did not drop support for any of its devices with the release; iPhone OS 2 was compatible with all devices released up to that time. The release of iPhone OS 2.1.1 brought support for the second generation iPod Touch. iPhone OS 2.2.1 is the final version of iPhone OS 2. It was succeeded by iPhone OS 3 on June 17, 2009.

iPhone OS 3
Apple announced iPhone OS 3 on March 17, 2009, and it was released to the public on June 17, 2009, alongside the iPhone 3GS. Apple did not drop support for any devices with this release. iPhone OS 3 was compatible with all devices released up to that time, but not all features were available on the original iPhone. The final release supported on the original iPhone and iPod Touch (1st generation) is iPhone OS 3.1.3. The first iPad was introduced along with iPhone OS 3.2. iPhone OS 3 was succeeded by iOS 4 on June 21, 2010.

iPhone OS 3 was the first version to support cut, copy and paste. The feature had previously only been available through jailbreaking.

iOS 4
Apple announced iOS 4 in April 2010, and released it to the public on June 21, 2010, alongside the iPhone 4. It was the first version of the operating system to be called "iOS", due to the iPad being released. With this release, Apple dropped support for the original iPhone and the first generation iPod Touch, which is the first time Apple had dropped support for any device in an iOS release. The iPhone 3G and the second generation iPod Touch were capable of running iOS 4, but had more limited features. For example, both devices lacked multitasking, and the ability to set a custom home screen wallpaper. This was also the first major release to be free of charge for iPod Touch users. The release of iOS 4.2.1 brought compatibility to the original iPad and was the final release supported on the iPhone 3G and 2nd generation iPod Touch due to significant performance issues. The release of iOS 4.3 added support for the iPad 2. It was succeeded by iOS 5 on October 12, 2011.

iOS 5
Apple announced iOS 5 on June 6, 2011, at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, and it was released to the public on October 12, 2011, alongside the iPhone 4S. With this release, Apple did not drop support for these devices, though support for the iPhone 3G and the iPod Touch (2nd generation) had already been dropped with iOS 4.3 seven months earlier due to hardware limitations and performance issues. The release of iOS 5.1 brought support for the iPad (3rd generation). iOS 5.1.1 was the final release supported for the iPad (1st generation) and iPod Touch (3rd generation). iOS 5.0 was also the last iOS version announced while Steve Jobs was alive. It was succeeded by iOS 6 on September 19, 2012.

iOS 6
Apple announced iOS 6 on June 11, 2012, at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, and it was released to the public on September 19, 2012, alongside the iPhone 5, iPod Touch (5th generation), and iPad (4th generation). With this release, Apple dropped support for the iPod Touch (3rd generation) and the iPad (1st generation) due to performance issues, and offered only limited support on the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch (4th generation). The iPhone 4 onwards, the iPod Touch (5th generation), the iPad 2 onwards, and the iPad Mini (1st generation) were fully supported. iOS 6.1.6 was the final release supported for the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch (4th generation). It was succeeded by iOS 7 on September 18, 2013.

iOS 7
Apple announced iOS 7 on June 10, 2013, at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, and it was released to the public on September 18, 2013, alongside the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S. With this release, Apple dropped support for the iPhone 3GS due to hardware limitations and the iPod Touch (4th generation) due to performance issues. iOS 7 has limited support on the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4 since they do not support Siri. However, other devices from the iPhone 4S onwards, iPod Touch (5th generation) onwards, the iPad (3rd generation) onwards, and the iPad Mini (1st generation) onwards were fully supported. The release of iOS 7.0.3 brought support for the iPad Air and iPad Mini 2. iOS 7.1.2 was the final release on the iPhone 4. iOS 7 is the first iOS version to support 64-bit processors. It is also the first iOS version to run 64-bit apps. It was succeeded by iOS 8 on June 2, 2014.

iOS 8
Apple announced iOS 8 on June 2, 2014, at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, and it was released to the public on September 17, 2014, alongside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. With this release, Apple dropped support for the iPhone 4 due to performance issues, and the Apple TV (2nd generation) due to hardware limitations. iOS 8 has limited support on the iPad 2, iPhone 4S, iPad (3rd generation), iPad Mini (1st generation), and the iPod Touch (5th generation), as Apple received widespread complaints of extremely poor performance from owners of these devices. All other devices from the iPhone 5 onwards, iPod Touch (6th generation) onwards, the iPad (4th generation) onwards, and the iPad Mini 2 onwards were fully supported. The release of iOS 8.1 brought support for the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3, and the release of iOS 8.4 brought support for the iPod Touch (6th generation). iOS 8.3 was the first version of iOS to have public beta testing available, where users could test the beta for upcoming releases of iOS and send feedback to Apple about bugs and issues. The final version of iOS 8 was iOS 8.4.1. iOS 8 was succeeded by iOS 9 on June 8, 2015.

iOS 9
Apple announced iOS 9 on June 8, 2015, at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, and it was released to the public on September 16, 2015, alongside the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus and iPad Mini 4. With this release, Apple did not drop support for any iOS devices, but support for Apple TV (3rd generation) has been dropped following the release due to 32-bit deprecations. Therefore, iOS 9 was supported on the iPhone 4S onwards, iPod Touch (5th generation) onwards, the iPad 2 onwards, and the iPad Mini (1st generation) onwards. However, iOS 9 has limited support on devices with an Apple A5 or A5X processor: the iPhone 4S, iPad 2, iPad (3rd generation), iPad Mini (1st generation), and iPod Touch (5th generation). This release made the iPad 2 the first device to support six major releases of iOS, supporting iOS 4 through iOS 9. Despite Apple's promise of better performance on these devices, there were still widespread complaints that the issue had not been fixed. iOS 9.3.5 is the final release on the iPod Touch (5th generation), the Wi-Fi-only iPad 2, the Wi-Fi-only iPad (3rd generation), and the Wi-Fi-only iPad Mini (1st generation). iOS 9.3.6 is the final release on the iPhone 4S, the Wi-Fi + cellular iPad 2, the Wi-Fi + cellular iPad (3rd generation), and the Wi-Fi + cellular iPad Mini (1st generation). iOS 9 is the last version to run on iPhones and iPads with 30-pin connector. iOS 9 was succeeded by iOS 10 on September 10, 2016.

iOS 10
Apple announced iOS 10 on June 13, 2016, at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, and it was released to the public on September 13, 2016, alongside the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. With this release, Apple dropped support for devices using an A5 or A5X processor: the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2, iPad (3rd generation), iPad Mini (1st generation), and iPod Touch (5th generation) due to hardware limitations and performance issues, ending software support for iPhones and iPads with 30-pin connector and 3.5-inch display. iOS 10 has limited support on devices with 32-bit processors: the iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, and iPad (4th generation). However, the iPhone 5S onwards, iPod Touch (6th generation), iPad Air onwards, and the iPad Mini 2 onwards are fully supported. The release of iOS 10.2.1 brought support for the iPad (5th generation), and iOS 10.3.2 brought support for the iPad Pro (10.5-inch) and the iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 2nd generation). iOS 10.3.3 is the final supported release for the iPhone 5C and the Wi-Fi—only iPad (4th generation), while iOS 10.3.4 is the final supported release for the iPhone 5 and the iPad (4th generation) with cellular modem. iOS 10 is the final iOS version to run on 32-bit processors, including non–Touch ID iPhones. It is also the final version of iOS to run 32-bit apps. It was succeeded by iOS 11 on September 19, 2017.

iOS 11
Apple announced iOS 11 on June 5, 2017, at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, and it was released to the public on September 19, 2017, alongside the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. With this release, Apple dropped support for the 32-bit iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, and iPad (4th generation) and also for 32-bit applications. iOS 11 has limited support on devices with the Apple A7 or A8 processors: the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPod Touch (6th generation), iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 2, 3, and 4. However, all other devices from the iPhone 6S onwards, iPhone SE (1st generation), iPad Pro, and iPad (5th generation) onwards are fully supported. iOS 11.0.1 brought support for the iPhone X and iOS 11.3 brought support for the iPad (6th generation). The final version of iOS 11 to be released was iOS 11.4.1. iOS 11 is the first version of iOS to only run on 64-bit processors. It is also the first iOS version to run only 64-bit apps; 32-bit apps are not supported on iOS 11 or later. It was succeeded by iOS 12 on September 17, 2018.

iOS 12
Apple announced iOS 12 on June 4, 2018, at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, and it was released to the public on September 17, 2018, alongside the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. With this release, Apple did not drop support for any iOS devices. Therefore, iOS 12 was supported on the iPhone 5S onwards, iPod Touch (6th generation), the iPad Air onwards and the iPad Mini 2 onwards. However, iOS 12 has limited support on devices with the Apple A7 or A8 processors: the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPod Touch (6th generation), iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 2, 3 and 4. All other devices from the iPhone 6S onwards, the iPad Air (2019), the iPad (5th generation) onwards and all iPad Pro models are fully supported. iOS 12.1 brought support to the iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 3rd generation) and iPad Pro (11-inch, 1st generation) and iOS 12.2 brought support to the iPad Mini (5th generation) and iPad Air (3rd generation). iOS 12.5.7 is the last supported release for the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air (1st generation), iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch (6th generation). It was the last version named "iOS" to run on iPads; it was succeeded by iOS 13 on iPhones and iPadOS 13 on iPads on September 19, 2019.

iOS 12 put a major focus on improving the performance of the operating system, especially on older iOS devices like the iPhone 6. Several areas that were focused on were the keyboard, made to appear up to 50% faster; app launch times, improved to be up to 40% faster; and the action to slide up to take a photo, made up to 70% faster. However, several new features were also introduced with the update, such as Memoji, a feature that allows users to create "personalized emojis", a new Screen Time feature to track device usage, improvements to Siri, Apple's virtual assistant, and Apple's book reading application, Apple Books (previously named iBooks), was given a significant redesign.

iOS 13 / iPadOS 13
Apple announced iOS 13 on June 3, 2019, at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, and it was released to the public on September 19, 2019, alongside the iPhone 11 series (11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max). The principal features include an option for dark mode and Memoji support for A9+ devices. The NFC framework now supports reading several types of contactless smartcards and tags. The iPad gains several tablet-oriented features, and its operating system has been rebranded as iPadOS; iPadOS 13 was announced at the 2019 WWDC as well. With this release, Apple dropped support for all devices with less than 2 GB of RAM, which included the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6, sixth-generation iPod Touch, iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 3, and iPad Air. iOS/iPadOS 13 has limited support on devices with the A8/A8X chip (which are the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 4). However, all other devices from the iPhone 6S and later, iPod Touch (7th generation), iPad Pro (1st generation), iPad (5th generation), and iPad Mini (5th generation) and later are fully supported (A9 and A10 devices have almost full support, while those with A11 and later chips have full support). iOS 13 brought support for the iPhone 11 series and the second-generation iPhone SE, while iPadOS 13 brought support for the seventh-generation iPad, the iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 4th generation), and the iPad Pro (11-inch, 2nd generation). It was succeeded by iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 on September 16, 2020.

iOS 14 / iPadOS 14
Apple announced iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 on June 22, 2020, at its annual WWDC 2020 event, with a developer beta released on the same day and a public beta released on July 9, 2020. iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 were released on September 16, 2020, alongside the eighth-generation iPad and fourth-generation iPad Air. All devices that supported iOS 13 also support iOS 14. This makes the iPad Air 2 the first device to support seven versions of iOS and iPadOS, from iOS 8 to iPadOS 14. Some new features introduced in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 include redesigned widgets that can now be placed directly on the home screen (only for iOS); the App Library, which automatically categorizes apps into one page; Picture-in-Picture in iPhone and iPod Touch; and the CarKey technology to unlock and start a car with NFC. iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 also allow the user to have incoming calls shown in banners rather than taking up the whole screen (the latter view is still available as an optional function). It was succeeded by iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 on September 20, 2021.

The release of iPadOS 14.0 brought support for the 8th generation iPad and the 4th generation iPad Air and the release of iOS 14.1 brought support for the iPhone 12 series. iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 have limited support on devices with A8/A8X, A9/A9X, and A10 Fusion chips, whereas devices with A10X Fusion and A11 Bionic chip have almost full support, and devices with A12 Bionic chip and later have full support.

iOS 15 / iPadOS 15
Apple announced iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 on June 7, 2021, at its annual WWDC 2021 event, with a developer beta released on the same day and a public beta released a few weeks later, at the end of June 2021. All devices that supported iOS 13, iPadOS 13, iOS 14, and iPadOS 14 also support iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. This makes the iPad Air 2 the first device to support eight versions of iOS and iPadOS, from iOS 8 to iPadOS 15. However, iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 have limited support on devices with A8/A8X, A9/A9X, A10/A10X Fusion, and A11 Bionic chips, which include the iPhone 6S, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone SE (1st generation), iPod Touch (7th generation), iPad (5th generation), iPad (6th generation), iPad (7th generation), iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 4, iPad Pro (1st generation), and iPad Pro (2nd generation). The release of iOS 15.4 brought support for the iPhone SE 3rd generation, while the release of iPadOS 15.4 brought support for the new iPad Air 5th generation. iOS 15 is the final version of iOS to work on the iPod Touch line, as the final model, the 7th generation, was discontinued without a successor. iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 were succeeded by iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 on September 12, 2022.

iOS 16 / iPadOS 16
Apple announced iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 on June 6, 2022, at its annual WWDC 2022 event, with a developer beta released the same day. Support for iPhone 6S, IPhone SE (1st generation), iPhone 7, iPod touch (7th generation), iPad Air 2, and iPad Mini 4 was dropped while the iPhone 8 and iPhone X have limited support, and fifth, sixth, and seventh-generation iPads along with the first and second generation iPad Pros have limited support on iPadOS 16. iOS 16 is the first release to not support any iPod Touch models, as the line was discontinued by Apple in May 2022, leaving the iPhone as the only supported product line. iOS 16 served as the version that shipped on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro.

iOS 16 introduced several major new features to the operating system, such as a comprehensive overhaul of the lock screen which added support for widgets and various customization features such changing the font and color of the time and date display, more customization options for wallpapers, along with the ability to have multiple lock screens, the ability to edit and unsend messages sent via iMessage, support for Live Activities via ActivityKit (added in iOS 16.1), among other features. iOS 16 also introduced support for a new update type entitled Rapid Security Response, a type of update that focuses only on fixes for security vulnerabilities, however this feature was not used until after the release of iOS 16.4.1.

iOS 17 / iPadOS 17
Apple announced iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 on June 5, 2023, at its annual WWDC 2023 event, with a developer beta released the same day. With this release, Apple dropped support for the iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPad Pro (1st generation) and iPad (5th generation). iOS 17 has limited support on iPhones with A12 Bionic and A13 Bionic chips, which include the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone SE (2nd generation), while iPhones with A14 Bionic and newer chips are fully supported. As for iPadOS 17 however, it has limited support on iPads with A10 Fusion and A10X Fusion chips. Devices with an A12 Bionic, A12X Bionic, A12Z Bionic and A13 Bionic chips receive additional features that are not available on older models. A14 Bionic and A15 Bionic devices are almost fully supported and devices with an M1 and M2 chip are fully supported. iOS 17 brought support for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models.