Apple’s support list for iOS 27 goes all the way back to the iPhone 11 and the second-generation iPhone SE. That’s a five-year-old phone and a budget model that launched with a home button, still getting the newest software Apple ships.
The update is out today, September 14th, at 20:00 Greece time.
If you bought an iPhone 18 Pro, an iPhone 18 Pro Max or an iPhone Duo, you don’t have to do anything. iOS 27 comes pre-installed on those. Everyone else waits for the download.
What Apple says you’re getting
The pitch is improved performance, new features, an enhanced Liquid Glass with more user options, Siri AI and other key functionalities. Apple’s word, not mine, and “improved performance” is the kind of claim that only means something once the update has been on your phone for a week and you can tell whether the battery held up.
Liquid Glass getting more user options is the line worth watching. The last round of that design work split people hard, and the fix Apple is offering is more control rather than a retreat.
The full compatibility list
Every iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 model is fully supported. So is the rest of the lineup going back four generations.
Here’s the complete list: iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air, iPhone 17, iPhone 17e, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16, iPhone 16e, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 and the iPhone SE from the second generation onward.
Supported isn’t the same as good
Being on the list means you can install it. It doesn’t mean every feature shows up.
That gap is where the small print usually lives, and it’s the thing to check before you tap install on an older device. A phone from the iPhone 11 era running a 2026 release is doing real work to keep up.
What to do tonight
If your phone is on the list and you rely on it for anything that can’t break, wait a few days. First-day releases are where the odd bugs surface, and there’s no prize for being early.
If you’re on an iPhone 16 or iPhone 17, you’re in the group Apple explicitly called out as fully supported, which is as close to a safe bet as this gets.
And if you’re holding an iPhone 11 or a second-generation SE, take the update as what it is: the last stretch of a long support run, on hardware that’s earned it.
