Apple is the industry leader in providing smartphone updates. iPhones are typically kept up to date between four and six years. The record holder is the iPhone 6s, which has received updates for a full seven years.
If you buy a new iPhone right from the start, you can count on software support for a long time. This not only means that new functions are coming regularly for the smartphone, but also important security patches to protect users. But what actually happens when you buy an older iPhone as a new device – how long will the device continue to receive updates?
Apple does not give an update guarantee
Although the company is very generous in providing updates compared to Android manufacturers, there is no official update guarantee. Competitor Samsung promises four years of software updates and five years of security updates for certain Galaxy devices. After all, Google guarantees software updates for three years and security updates for five years. Apple makes no such promise to iPhone buyers.
However, as the past shows, this is not necessary. Since the iPhone 4s from 2011, all iPhones have received software updates for an average of five and a half years. The iPhone 5c, which received three new iOS versions over a period of three years and eleven months, has the fewest updates. The iPhone 6s is the previous leader of all iPhones and all smartphones in general. The device started with iOS 9 in 2015 and received the last major update to iOS 15.7 in 2022 – that’s seven years and one month of software support. iOS 16 didn’t get it anymore, but it still gets bug fixes along with the iPhone SE (1st gen) and iPhone 7.
Older iPhones get updates for at least two years
Of course, the average support periods only apply to newly released devices. However, Apple often sells certain iPhones years after they were introduced as new devices for less money. Anyone who buys an older iPhone cannot count on the same update supply. Since Apple does not promise support, it is not possible to say with certainty how long an older device will still be supported.
However, it is enough to take a look at how older iPhones have been handled to find out how long these devices usually continue to receive updates:
| Overview of all iPhones from iPhone 4s that no longer receive updates | Released | Set | updates until | Maximum Lifespan | Minimum Lifespan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 4s | October 2011 | Sep 2014 | September 2016 (single security patch July 2019) | 4 years, 10 months | 2 years |
| iPhone 5 | Sep 2012 | September 2013 | September 2017 (single security patch July 2019) | 4 years, 11 months | 4 years |
| iPhone 5c | September 2013 | September 2015 | September 2017 | 3 years, 11 months | 2 years |
| iPhone 5s | September 2013 | March 2016 | Sept 2019 (single security patch August 2022) | 5 years, 11 months | 3 years, 5 months |
| iPhone 6/6Plus | Sep 2014 | September 2016 | Sept 2019 (single security patch August 2022) | 4 years, 11 months | 3 years |
| iPhone 6s/6s Plus | September 2015 | Sept 2018 | October 2022 (only bugfixes since then) | 7 years, 1 month | 4 years, 1 month |
| iPhone SE (1st gen) | March 2016 | Sept 2018 | October 2022 (only bugfixes since then) | 6 years, 6 months | 4 years, 1 month |
| iPhone 7 | September 2016 | Sept 2019 | October 2022 (only bugfixes since then) | 6 years, 1 month | 3 years, month |
The overview shows that only the iPhone 4s and the iPhone 5c “only” received updates two more years after sales were discontinued. All other models received updates for between three and four years after they were discontinued. On average, this results in a value of just over three years of updates for older iPhones. So if you are still considering buying an iPhone that is no longer up-to-date, you can rest assured that Apple will continue to provide updates for a few more years.