iPhone 7 was the first truly black iPhone to be released to the public back in 2016. Fitted with the A10 Fusion chip, it offered great performance and battery life when compared to its predecessors.

Now that it’s been 6 years since the phone was released, questions around future support have started to arise. So how long will iOS be supported by Apple? Let’s find out!

Will iPhone 7 get iOS 16?

Unfortunately no, iOS 15 is the end of the line for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus which means, you will no longer be able to use features available on iOS 16. The devices currently run iOS 15.6.1, a version which got released on August 17, 2022. 

This comes as a surprising move from Apple where many expected the phone to receive the new update thanks to its still relevant performance and processing power. But it seems that newly introduced features, APIs, and SDKs have a few requirements that can only be supported by iPhone SE 2nd gen and later. 

How long will the iPhone 7 be supported?

The iPhone 7 will be officially supported till September 12, 2022, which is when iOS 16 gets released. After the iOS 16 release takes place, Apple may stop signing iOS 15.6.1 within a month of the release. Unless the company sends additional security updates for iPhone 7, iOS 15.6.1 could be the end of support for this model. 

The iPhone 7 lineup joins the iPhone 5s to be the most supported iPhone to date as the latter received 6 feature updates during its lifetime; from iOS 7 to iOS 12. The iPhone 7 was released with iOS 10.0.1 out of the box and it currently runs iOS 15.6.1, which means it too has received six major updates to date.

There were some major UI and feature updates among these releases which go to show the performance that Apple can pull from older devices. Though many would argue that iOS 12 slowed down the device quite a bit, an update was issued nonetheless. It wasn’t until the phone’s performance was impacted that Apple stopped pushing out updates.

Does 2022 mean the end for iPhone 7?

iPhone 7 sets may no longer receive the version upgrades like iOS 16, but they may still receive a few security updates in the year 2022. The new security updates, if released, will be based on iOS 15 only, of course.

Is my phone useless if it stops receiving updates?

It depends on what useless means to you, if a phone with reduced security and outdated security patches is useless to you, then yes the iPhone 7 will become useless after it stops receiving updates.

However, this will not affect its functioning. You will still be able to make calls, play games, run apps and access the web using the device as long as no hardware failure occurs. It is just that your device will now be vulnerable to attacks and breaches as it will get no security updates.

As time passes, iOS 15.6.1 will stop supporting App updates and modern apps which eventually will force you to get a new device. This, however, will take some time and the phone should be functional for another 2 years at the least. 

We hope this guide helped shed some light on the lifespan of the iPhone 7. As such, these are just educated guesses based on Apple’s past support and patterns when it comes to software updates. If you have any more questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below.