iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 don't drop support for any iPhones—and just a few iPads

Apple released iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 this week, maintaining broad hardware compatibility for its latest operating systems. The iOS 27 update will function on all iPhones capable of running iOS 26, including the iPhone 11 and the second-generation iPhone SE. iPadOS 27, however, discontinues support for the 3rd-generation iPad Air, the 8th-generation iPad, and the 5th-generation iPad mini, all of which were powered by the A12 Bionic chip. Devices supported by iPadOS 27 now require an A13 chip or newer. Apple stated that iOS 27 includes an updated CPU scheduler, ported from newer iPhone models, which should enhance performance on older devices. Despite the broad OS compatibility, many of the new features introduced with Apple Intelligence are restricted to newer hardware. Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro or later, an iPhone 16 or later, or an iPhone Air. On the tablet side, Apple Intelligence support is limited to iPad Air or iPad Pro models equipped with an M1 chip or newer, necessitating at least 8GB of RAM.