Apple released updates for all iOS devices back to the iPhone 5s, that phone is more than 12 years old and is still getting security updates.
I’m on the iPhone X and trying to buy European for my next phone, especially with Tim Apple sucking up to Trump, but 12 years of security updates is impressive commitment.
And yet devices that could benefit from iOS 18.x releases beyond 18.7.2 are being held in abeyance by Apple as a forcing function to get users who are unwilling or unable to abide iOS 26 to migrate…
There is nothing of value in iOS 26. If your device has AI then there’s some things.
In fact I would argue it’s almost universally worse in almost every single way. I wholesale regret updating.
With the departure of Alan Dye from Apple (https://daringfireball.net/2025/12/bad_dye_job ) hopefully sanity will return to their UI/UX, but it might take a few iOS versions (read: years) to break the glass.
Just updated from 18 to 26. Absolutely nothing about it is better.