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iPhone Q&A
Update Published December 7, 2022
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Which iPhone models support iOS 16? Do some models "partially" support iOS 16? Which ones?
Apple first previewed iOS 16 on June 6, 2022 with immediately availability for registered Apple Developers. It was released as a public beta on July 12, 2022 and the "final" consumer version shipped on September 12, 2022.
Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (iOS 16 on iPhone 13 Pro)
Apple provides basic iOS 16 compatibility in its corporate press release, but specific feature support is buried elsewhere. Independent documentation can be particularly helpful, accordingly.
New iOS 16 Features
In the company press release, Apple boasts that iOS 16 provides "an all-new Lock Screen experience and new ways to share and communicate."
More specifically, significant iOS 16 additions include:
- Personalized Lock Screen: As has long been common on Android, the option to change fonts and colors for the first time as well as widgets for calendar events, weather, and more.
- Improved Focus: Now integrated with the Lock Screen to make it easy to filter out notifications and content to stay focused on work during certain time periods, wind down for sleep, or accomplish other defined tasks.
- iCloud Shared Photo Library: Makes it easy for families to share photos via a separate iCloud library.
- Improved Messages: As has long been common on various chat apps, it finally is possible to recall recently sent messages, mark conversations as unread, and more.
- Improved Mail: Mail finally makes it possible to schedule emails as well as adds reminders and other suggestions common to other email apps.
- Improved Live Text & Visual Look Up: Very slick; promises to translate text and convert currencies from photos and video.
- Improved Wallet: Now integrates order tracking as well as unveils the controversial Apple Pay Later capability in the US.
- Improved Safari: Introduces promising new "passkey" technology with the goal of replacing cumbersome passwords entirely.
- Improved Maps: Adds multistop routing for improved efficiency and significant enhancements for mass transit.
- Improved Accessibility: Most notably adds "Door Detection" which can be particularly helpful for blind or low vision users.
There are many other small improvements and tweaks that you also may find worthwhile, but these are the primary ones that Apple has chosen to emphasize. However, not all features are supported on all compatible devices, though.
Compared to its predecessor -- iOS 15 -- iOS 16 drops support for the iPhone 6s/iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7/iPhone 7 Plus, and original iPhone SE. It also drops support for the iPod touch entirely, so the final iPod touch 7 is not supported, either.
A full list of iPhone devices supported is below. However, there are some substantial differences in terms of feature support documented further below, as well.
Identification Help (Skip)
If you are not certain which iPhone you have, a relatively convenient way to identify your device precisely is by Model Number.
Regardless of the age of your device, you can find this Model Number in the iOS "Settings" app on your iPhone under General > Regulatory > or General > Legal & Regulatory, depending on the version of the iOS. You also can find a general "Model Name" under General > About that is precise enough for this purpose.
These specific iPhone models support iOS 16:
iPhone Model |
Model No |
If your iPhone isn't listed above, it isn't compatible with iOS 16.
Although it is much more complicated, you might also consider using the Order Number for identification, which is specified as "Model" within the iOS "Settings" app under General > About.
For example, in the United States, this "Model" within the iOS looks like MLMM3LL/A, which specifically refers to an iPhone 13 (US/A2482) in "Starlight" with 128 GB of storage.
Everyi.com's Ultimate iLookup feature can identify these devices by order numbers from around the world and by other identifiers, too.
All of the above iPhone models support iOS 16, but in fine print, Apple specifies that some models only support certain features. Confusingly, Apple refers to some feature support as available with a specific model or newer and other feature support available for iPhone models "with an A12 Bionic and later" processor. Apple Music Sing (Karaoke) released as part of iOS 16.2 only supports some models, as well.
If you don't know what processor is in your iPhone, you're not alone, and there is not an easy way to retrieve this information from the device itself, either. Everyi.com has you covered, though, because we always diligently have documented this information on the specs pages for each iPhone.
Ultimately, only the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max actually support all new features. The iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, on the other hand, do not support any of the below features.
Support for other iPhone models varies accordingly:
| XR | XS* | 11** | 12** | |
| Live Text | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Emojis in Text via Siri | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Expanded Siri Capabilities | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Improved Dictation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add Medication via Camera | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Accessibility Detection | No | No | No | No |
| Live Captions | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Improved Depth of Field | No | No | No | No |
| Visual Look Up | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Apple Music Sing (Karaoke) | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| 12 Pro† | 13‡ | SE 2 | SE 3 | |
| Live Text | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Emojis in Text via Siri | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Expanded Siri Capabilities | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Improved Dictation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add Medication via Camera | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Accessibility Detection | Yes | No | No | No |
| Live Captions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Improved Depth of Field | No | Yes‡ | No | No |
| Visual Look Up | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apple Music Sing (Karaoke) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
* Support is the same for the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.
** Support is the same for the entire iPhone 11 line (iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max) and the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12.
† Support is the same for the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
‡ Support is the same for the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 except that the iPhone 13 mini does not offer improved Depth of Field functionality.
It is hoped that this chart makes specific feature support for iPhone models that partially support iOS 16 straightforward.
iOS 16 Summary
Ultimately, iOS 16 provides new features that are worthwhile, but mostly modest. For some users, though, the lockscreen improvements alone will provide a welcomed reason to upgrade.
As always, Everyi.com recommends that for those who use their iPhone for important tasks, it is wise to skip any public beta version entirely. It even is a good idea to resist the temptation to immediately upgrade to the "final" release to allow for a couple of "bug fix" updates, as well. Now that multiple bug fix updates of iOS 16 have been released, it should be fine to upgrade.
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