Some big Apple services could soon stop working on older devices

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iCloud will not be affected, thankfully.

Apple services icons
(Image credit: Apple)

Apple's services could be about to stop working on older versions of its iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV software, according to a new report.

While Apple is yet to confirm the change, it's claimed that devices running older versions of its software will no longer have access to some unnamed services while iCloud will remain unaffected.

It also isn't clear why Apple chooses to make some services unavailable to those whose devices are using older software, but it could be related to new features, APIs, or even security updates that are not available on those devices.

iCloud's safe, but other services aren't

As Apple likely gets ready to announce iOS 17 and other software updates at WWDC23 in June, Twitter leaker @StellaFudge reports that non-iCloud services will be going away for people with specific software installed.

According to them, the following software versions will be impacted.

  • iOS 11 - 11.2.6
  • macOS 10.13 -1 0.13.3
  • watchOS 4 - 4.2.3
  • tvOS 11 - 11.2.6

Unfortunately, it hasn't been made clear which services will be affected. But Apple does have plenty that could be impacted including Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, and Apple News Plus to name a few.

The leaker says that Apple may warn users about the change via a push notification before they lose access to anything.

The change means that people who want to continue to use those services will have to upgrade to a new device if their existing one doesn't support more recent software updates. They don't necessarily have to go all the way to the best iPad, iPhone, or other device that Apple sells of course. But this could be a good opportunity to get something a little more capable while retaining access to the services they use.

Apple is expected to announce new iPhones this September, with the iPhone 15 lineup likely to be announced alongside new Apple Watches.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.