No iOS 10 Support For iPhone 4S, iPad 3 And More

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If you were waiting with bated breath in the hope that your iOS device would be compatible with iOS 10, how did you fare? As it stands, Apple has produced a list, that clearly shows which devices will run iOS 10 and those that will not. So before I go into any detail, I’m going to share with you a few devices that will miss out.

None iOS 10 Compatible Devices

The information I am about to share with you is not a rumor, this came directly from the Horse’s mouth in Apple’s official press release. And if you’re an owner of any of the following devices, I am sorry to say that you won’t be upgrading to iOS 10 anytime soon!

No iOS 10 Support For iPhone 4S, iPad 3 And More

The devices that will not run iOS 10 are:

  • iPhone 4S
  • iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad Mini
  • iPod Touch (5th Gen)

If you’re an owner of one of the culled device, you may be wondering what it was about yours that made Apple decide to remove it from its supported list? Well, it turns out that all of the listed devices have something in common. They all have a version of the Apple A5 SoC, the A5 is a chipset that Apple has supported for much longer than any of its previous. It was first seen in the iPad 2, way back in March 2011, and was the last piece of hardware still being supported that was launched by Steve Jobs.

After the iPad 2, the A5 was incorporated into the iPhone 4S and later with the fifth generation iPod Touch and iPad Mini in 2012. In fact, the very first Retina iPad used a variant of the chip the A5X, and the thrid-generation Apple TV also had one although with a single core CPU.

Feeling its Age

Over more recent years, Apple has begun to increase the amount of iOS updates available, and this has led to the A5 being noticeably out of its league. Updates to the likes of iOS 7, 8 and 9 with their considerable feature upgrades, have pushed devices with the A5 to their limits so there was simply no chance that any of them would get a look in with iOS 10.

No iOS 10 Support For iPhone 4S, iPad 3 And More

However, the A5 has had a much longer run of support than many had expected it would in such a fast paced environment. Much more than any other chipset from almost any other industry.

iOS 10 Compatible Devices

As for the A6 chipset, yes Apple currently still supports it. And because of this, devices like the iPhone 5, 5C and iPad 4 are the last 32-bit SoCs in the iPad and iPhone lineups and will be compatible with iOS 10.

And finally, just in case you don’t already know here’s a list of devices that are supported by iOS 10.

  • iPhone 5, 5C, 5S, 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, and SE.
  • iPad 4, iPad Air, and iPad Air 2.
  • Both iPad Pros.
  • iPad Mini 2 and newer.
  • Sixth-generation iPod Touch.

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