What’s the latest version of iOS supported on your iPhone, and can it run iOS 26?
Unsure which version of iOS your iPhone can run? Here’s a quick guide so you can find out if your iPhone is compatible with the most recent iterations of the iPhone operating system, and, if it isn’t, which version you can install on your iPhone.
Apple gives iOS a major update each year, usually introducing new features and some stability upgrades to the previous version, plus numerous smaller updates in between. The current version of iOS is iOS 26, which arrived on September 15, 2025.
iOS 26 is the successor to iOS 18 (the jump from 18 to 26 is because Apple has realigned the numbering to match the year) will bring a brand new design and lots of new features to iPhones. But will iOS 26 run on your iPhone? Unfortunately the compatibility list for iOS 26 is slightly smaller than that for iOS 18. If your iPhone is older than the iPhone 11 you miss out on the new iOS.
Even with an iPhone 11 you won’t get all the new features coming with iOS 26. For the Apple Intelligence-powered features you’ll need the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, or iPhone Air, the iPhone 16, 16e, 16 Plus, 16 Pro or 16 Pro Max, or the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max.
If you want to see a brief history of iOS, then take a look at our guide to Every version of iOS released so far.Latest iOS version supported by Apple
If your iPhone can’t run the newest iOS that doesn’t mean you need to upgrade your iPhone. While you won’t be able to take advantage of the newest features, Apple does continue to issue software updates to address security vulnerabilities in the most recent versions of iOS. Even with the arrival of iOS 26, Apple will continue to support iOS 18 with security updates (and with is the iPhone XS and XR).
In some years Apple supports more than one older iOS with security updates, but because all phones that run iOS 17 can be upgraded to iOS 18 it is likely that iOS 17 is no longer be supported.
