If you purchased an iPhone XR in 2018, you may be worried that iOS 18, which will be released this fall, may be the software update that finally forces you to upgrade After all, Apple typically discontinues support for phones after five years of software updates

However, according to a new report, that doesn't seem to be the case iOS 18 support will include the same iPhones that currently run iOS 17, according to an anonymous X account that reportedly has a good track record with iPhone-related leaks This means that devices released in 2018 (iPhone XS and XS Max in addition to iPhone XR) can fight another year

We would introduce the X/Twitter account in question, but it is a private account and the post has since been deleted However, MacRumors found the post before it disappeared and noted that the poster has a track record of deleting posts despite their accuracy

Assuming all of this is solid enough corroboration for you, the following iPhones will be upgradeable to iOS 18 when iOS 18 arrives later this year (Apple's new iPhone 16 models will also likely have iOS 18 pre-installed)

It is not unprecedented for Apple to include six-year-old devices among the iPhones that will support iOS updates two years ago with the iOS 15 update, supported the original iPhone SE, which debuted in 2016 It is also worth remembering that just because a device is capable of running Apple's software updates does not mean that all features will work on older phones, as some require newer chipsets

This is quite possible with iOS 18, which is rumored to be leaning toward AI-powered features that may require a lot of processing power However, it is also possible that some of these AI features will utilize the cloud rather than on-device processing power

As for the iPadOS 18 update, which will be released at the same time as iOS 18, not all currently supported devices will be covered; according to another MacRumors report, the same X/Twitter account claims that the A10X Fusion chip equipped iPads will not be able to upgrade to the new version of iPadOS to be released this year That would leave the first-generation 105-inch iPad Pro and the second-generation 129-inch iPad Pro out in the cold Support for A10 Fusion-powered tablets, including the sixth- and seventh-generation iPads, would also end

Keep in mind that none of this is official, as we won't know Apple's official support plans until the iOS18 and iPadOS18 beta versions are released That will likely take place at Apple's developer conference, WWDC 2024, which is expected to be held in June