Every year Apple announces a new version of its mobile operating system iOS at its WWDC event Since we are currently using iOS 13, we expect iOS 14 to debut in a few months, but another expectation, we were going to say goodbye to another generation of compatible Apple devices in the upgrade process, but that may not happen

According to a rumor (via 9to5Mac) from iPhonesoft, a source from an Apple employee (apparently involved in the development of the Maps app), models currently running on iOS 13 (including iPhone 6S and later, iPhone SE, 7th generation iPod touch) will all be updated to iOS 14 as well

The iPhone 12 will also run on the new OS, but we probably won't see it until September

The reason for this change of heart is the CPU architecture iPhone 6S and iPhone SE both use Apple's A9 chip, which is highly similar to later Apple CPUs (the iPhone 11 series currently uses the A13 series) and older processors, meaning that it is easier to keep everything updated together than with a processor

iPhonesoft's source does add, however, that support for these two phones in particular is not finalized, and that Apple will only decide for sure in a few months depending on how its new models perform in sales

The iOS update also means an update to the iPad OS version design for Apple's tablets iPhonesoft says the lucky group to get iPad OS 14 will include all iPad Pro models (including the rumored upcoming 5G version ), iPad Mini 5, iPad Air 3, and iPad 5 and later models This group all use A9 or later CPUs, which seems to be the criteria for whether or not Apple will offer updates to users of these devices

iPhonesoft sometimes gets details wrong in its leaks; as 9to5Mac points out, last year this French website incorrectly claimed that the iPhone SE would not get the iOS 13 update However, the broad details turned out to be true, and iPhone users who have not updated their devices in several years for whatever reason, perhaps because the price of a new iPhone is quite high, will be pleased to know that they will eventually get the latest iOS experience