The new iPhone 15 models are in stores next Friday, September 22. But what if you’re perfectly happy with what you have?
Seemingly lost amid Tuesday’s Apple announcements about all the shiny new things was a key piece of information that will bring new features to older iPhones.
iOS 17 will be available as a free download Monday, September 18.
That’s right, you’ll be able to make your older phone seem new again before the new phone hits store shelves, or should I say that mysterious back room at the Apple store where an employee retrieves products from.
iOS 17 will work on a wide variety of older devices dating all the way back to 2018. This starts with the iPhone XR and up, which includes the XS, iPhone 11, 12, 13 and 14 models, plus the second gen iPhone SE.
You can check to see which model you have by going into Settings > General > About > Model Name.
iOS 17 brings new features including live voicemail, better voice dictation (yay!), easy contact exchange, offline Apple Maps, Check-In, StandBy and more.
In the past Apple has typically made the download available around 10 AM Pacific time.
Please remember to back up your phone before any update or changes.
