Apple’s just-announced iOS 17 won’t be coming to the iPhone X, the device that ushered in the era of Face ID. It was announced in 2017 along with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which will also miss out on the next iOS upgrade. That makes the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR the oldest devices that will be eligible for iOS 17 when it becomes available this fall, but that doesn’t mean they’ll get every new feature.
Every phone that’s eligible for iOS 17 will get the biggies: the new design-driven contact cards, the StandBy display for quick info while you’re charging, and the Check In feature to notify someone that you’ve arrived home safely. But a few features are reserved for newer iPhones. Gesture-based reactions with AR effects in FaceTime will require an iPhone 12 or newer, for example.
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Image: Apple
You’ll also need an iPhone 12 or newer for some autocorrect improvements to the keyboard and in-line autocomplete suggestions. There’s also a new accessibility feature called Point and Speak that helps people with vision disabilities interact with text in their environment, but it’s limited to just the Pro models of the iPhone 12, 13, and 14.
That said, older devices like the iPhone XS and 11 will get the lion’s share of new features coming to iOS 17. That’s great news if you own one of those phones; just be on the lookout next year when they’re on the chopping block for iOS 18.
