Apple prepares to launch iOS 18.7 in September as a final update for older iPhones, while iOS 26 brings major upgrades to ...

People with devices running older iOS versions will need to update the operating system or find another way to back up their iPhones.

However, my positive experiences with the iOS 26 betas jibe with early impressions from several pros whose job includes testing new software on old devices.

Testing with developer and public beta versions went smoothly for even the oldest supported models. But there are safety measures if upgrading to the beta or release version goes awry.