WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps on the planet, and a good chunk of its user base comes from iPhone users. As all apps do, WhatsApp also regularly ends support for older, end-of-life devices. The latest ones set to lose support for WhatsApp are Apple's iPhone 5 and 5C, which will no longer be supported after December 31.
WhatsApp will stop working on a total of 49 models on December 31, according to a report from GizChina. These include the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5C, both of which run iOS 10.
Apple's "vintage and obsolete" iPhone 5 and 5C will no longer support WhatsApp
Apple has already declared the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5C as vintage, with both models making it to the company's vintage and obsolete list. As such, it is no surprise that software support for these models is declining. WhatsApp updates its supported models list regularly, and is cutting support for 49 models by the end of this year, including the iPhone 5 and 5C.
WhatsApp's FAQ section says, "To keep up with the latest advances in technology, we routinely stop supporting older operating systems to point our resources to supporting the latest ones. If we stop supporting your operating system, you’ll be notified and reminded a few times to upgrade your device to continue using WhatsApp."
As of now, the app officially supports only iOS 12 and newer. The iPhone 5 and 5C both run on iOS 10, with the iOS 11 upgrade having never made it to the phones due to these two models being 32-bit. Apple has ended support for these models itself.
It appears that WhatsApp won't immediately stop working on these iPhones, especially if you have it installed, but you'll need to upgrade to one of the new best iPhone models if you want to continue using WhatsApp without any interruptions.
