Apple 14 series iOS 16
Getty Images, Pixabay

iOS 17, Apple's upcoming operating system for mobile devices, is expected to be revealed by the company in a few months. It is set to replace the iOS 16, which introduced improvements on the Lock Screen and support for Dynamic Island. Here's what we currently know about the upcoming version of iOS.

iOS 17 release date, announcement speculations

Apple has not yet officially revealed the iOS 17, but tech watchers have already made educated guesses on when this could happen based on the company's past iOS releases. Apple usually releases its mobile operating systems at its yearly Worldwide Developers Conference, which is also likely to happen this year, according to BGR.

Meanwhile, Trusted Reviews also came up with almost the same announcement window prediction. "We fully expect iOS 17 to be revealed at a live-streamed keynote on the first day of WWDC 2023. The dates are yet to be confirmed by Apple, but if it follows its regular first week of June schedule, it'll take place between 5 – 9 June 2023, with the announcement likely on 5 June 2023," the publication noted.

Both sources also pointed out that after the reveal, the iOS 17 will likely be first released in beta form to developers. It will later be available in public beta before its launch sometime in September alongside the iPhone 15.

iOS 17 won't contain a lot of new features

Recent rumours suggest that the upcoming iOS 17 won't be as big of an update as the iOS 16 and other recent versions of the mobile operating. The main reason for this is that Apple is reallocating some of its resources from the iOS and macOS development teams to work on the software side of the rumoured new AR/VR headset, which will reportedly be launched at WWDC 2023. This update came from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman who has a pretty solid track record on Apple-related predictions.

iOS 17-supported iPhone models

Since the upcoming version won't introduce a lot of new features, it will likely continue to support the same models supported by the current iOS 16. This means that most iPhones from the iPhone 8 onward get the iOS 17 update, as shown in the list below:

  • iPhone 8 and 8 Plus
  • iPhone X
  • iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max
  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone SE (2nd gen)
  • iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12
  • iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13
  • iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max
  • iPhone SE (3rd gen)
  • iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
  • iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max