iOS 15 Requirements: Will Your Device Support Them?
Will your iPhone support the iOS 15 feature requirements? What about your iPad with iPadOS 15. It’s time to find out right here.
Apple has introduced new features for iPhone and iPad on iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, respectively. But, unfortunately, some features won’t work on older devices. Keep in mind that iOS 15 won’t work at all on some older devices. Here’s a look at the iOS 15 requirements.
iOS 15 Requirements
Devices Supported
You can install the latest iOS update on lots of iPhone and iPod touch models, including iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone Xr, iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE (1st generation), iPhone SE (2nd generation), and iPod touch (7th generation). It also ships with the recently announced iPhone 13 series.
iOS 15 Feature Requirements
New features in iOS 15 work on all of the devices mentioned above except for those below.
A few iOS 15 features only work on iPhones with the A12 Bionic chip or above, including:
- Spatial audio in FaceTime: With this feature, voices sound more robust during chats in FaceTime
- Weather new animated backgrounds: There are also animated backgrounds in the native Weather app that only work on specific machines.
- Immersive walking directions: The augmented reality tool lets you see step-by-step guidance in a fun, new way.
- Maps: Apple’s redesigned Maps app shows more details such as deserts, oceans, and forests. There’s also an interactive globe.
Apple has added digital keys to iOS 15 for home, hotel, office, and car use where supported. However, you’ll need an iPhone Xs or later to use the new goodies.
There’s also a new walking steadiness feature that calculates the likelihood that you might fall. It measures your balance, strength, and gait and requires an iPhone 8 or later.
AirPods Pro and AirPods Max users will also be able to take advantage of new spatial audio with dynamic head tracking. The feature offers a more immersive listening experience using Dolby Atmos. Unfortunately, it’s only available on the iPhone 7 or later.
Finally, Apple has added various new health-based features in iOS 15. However, these are only launching in the United States at this time. The features include lab results enhancements, blood glucose highlights, and the ability to share health data with your doctor(s).
iPadOS 15 Requirements
Devices Supported
The latest version of iPadOS 15 supports the following tablets: iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st generation), iPad Pro 10.5-inch, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, iPad (9th generation), iPad (8th generation), iPad (7th generation), iPad (6th generation), iPad (5th generation), iPad mini (6th generation), iPad mini (5th generation), iPad mini 4, iPad Air (4th generation), iPad Air (3rd generation), and iPad Air 2.
Most iPads will support all of the iPadOS 15 features, except where noted below.
Available on iPad with A9 chip and later
- Easy to Access: Access Quick Note with a swipe of a finger or Apple Pencil. You can also access Quick Note from Control Center or with a keyboard shortcut.
The following features require an iPad with A12 Bionic or later:
- Portrait mode: Inspired by the portraits you take in the Camera app, Portrait mode in FaceTime blurs your background and puts the focus on you.
- Spatial audio: Creates a sound field that helps conversations flow as quickly as they do face to face. Your friends’ voices are spread out to sound like they’re coming from the direction in which they’re positioned on the call.
- Voice Isolation mode: This microphone mode spotlights your voice by using machine learning to identify ambient noises and block them out. So a leaf blower outside or a dog barking in the next room won’t interrupt your call.
- Wide Spectrum mode: This microphone mode brings every single sound into your call. It’s ideal for when you’re taking music lessons or want your friend to hear everything.
- Interactive globe: Discover the natural beauty of Earth with a rich and interactive 3D globe, including significantly enhanced details for mountain ranges, deserts, forests, oceans, and more.
- Detailed new city experience: Explore cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London with unprecedented detail for elevation, roads, trees, buildings, landmarks, and more.
Available on all AR-enabled iPad models only:
- RealityKit 2: Apply custom shaders, add post-rendering effects, and build more immersive AR experiences with RealityKit 2 — Apple’s 3D rendering, physics, and spatial audio engine built from the ground up for AR.
Available on iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation):
- Enhanced connectivity on 5G: More app and system experiences are enhanced by faster 5G connectivity, including support to back up to iCloud and restore from an iCloud backup, stream audio and video on Apple and third-party apps, download higher-quality Apple TV+ content, sync photos to iCloud Photos, download Apple News+ magazine issues for offline reading, and download machine learning models.
Available on iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later), iPad Pro 11-inch, iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad (6th generation and later), and iPad mini (5th generation):
- Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking: With AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, listeners can now get an even more immersive experience of Dolby Atmos music with Apple’s dynamic head tracking.
These iOS 15 requirements are all subject to change, with features not necessarily available in all regions. You can download iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 now for the iPhone and iPad, respectively.