Apple has silently released a new software update for some of its oldest iPhones and iPads running on iOS 12. While it hasn’t made the vintage iOS versions on these devices as feature-rich as iOS 26, the small update from Apple is meant to ensure that some of the core services on these devices keep working before Apple decides to bin support next year.
The new update, called iOS 12.5.8, is not about adding new features or changing the look of the phone and the OS. Instead, it fixes an important behind-the-scenes issue. Apple needed to renew a system security certificate that helps services like iMessage, FaceTime, and device activation work correctly on older devices that last received iOS 12 as their final OS update. This includes legendary products like the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and the iPod Touch 6th Gen.
Without this unusual update, these basic communication services would have stopped working on older devices after a certain date. Apple states that users of these devices could have faced problems sending messages, making video calls, or even resetting their phones. The new update patch promises to fix this and keep these devices usable for basic functionality.
Apple devices that get the iOS 12 update
The update is available for those Apple devices that last received the iOS 12 update and couldn’t get the iOS 13 update. These include:
– iPhone 5s
– iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
– iPad Air (first generation)
– iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3
– iPod touch (6th generation)
It should be noted that many of these devices are over ten years old but are still being used by people as backup phones, kids’ devices, or secondary gadgets. You are less likely to find someone using any of these devices in 2026 as their primary device, since most other app developers have stopped supporting iOS 12 as a platform and unsupported apps make it tricky for people to survive in today’s digital economies.
Apple cares for obsolete devices
It is highly unusual to see Apple supporting such old devices, especially at a time when most other manufacturers struggle to deliver the latest security patches and updates to comparatively newer models. While brands like Google, Samsung, and Motorola are raising the bar by promising up to 7 years of OS and security updates, most other companies stop providing updates after four or five years. The iPhone 5s, on the other hand, was launched in 2013, and it received updates for 6 years before being laid to rest. Apple delivering a security patch to this classic iPhone in 2026 makes it one of the longest supported smartphones today.
What should you do if you have an iPhone 5s, iPhone 6?
If you own one of the supported older devices and still use it in some way or another, it is advisable to install iOS 12.5.8 as soon as possible. The update ensures that messaging, video calling, and activation features continue to work without any problems.
That said, we recommend not logging in with your crucial accounts and credentials on these devices, considering how the lack of security patches on these devices makes them vulnerable to cyberattacks.
