At its ‘Far Out’ iPhone 14 launch event, Apple announced the public release date of iOS 16 and watchOS 9. Both of the operating systems have been under beta testing for the last few months, with Apple releasing eight beta builds so far. The company has also confirmed the delay in the public release of iPadOS 16, which it says will be available for download ‘later in the fall.’
iOS 16 Release Date
Apple generally tends to release the stable public version of the next iOS release a week after its iPhone launch event, which is what it is doing this year as well. Apple will release iOS 16 to the public on September 12.
iOS 16 comes with tons of features, including a customizable Lock Screen, improvements to first-party apps, Shared Photo Library, redesigned Home app, and much more.
iOS 16 is compatible with the following iPhones:
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 Mini
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11
- 2020 iPhone SE
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XR
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 8
It is worth noting that iOS 16 is compatible only with the iPhone 8 and models released after it. Apple has dropped support for many of the older iPhones with this release, including the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and original iPhone SE.
watchOS 9 Release Date
watchOS 9 packs several new exciting features, including Fitness improvements, better sleep tracking, a medicine tracker, new watch faces, better Siri UI, a new battery widget, and more. Check out the best watchOS 9 Apple Watch features here.
watchOS 9 is compatible with the following Apple Watch Models:
- Apple Watch Series 4
- Apple Watch Series 5
- Apple Watch Series 6
- Apple Watch SE
- Apple Watch Series 7
Notably, Apple has dropped support for the Apple Watch Series 3 with watchOS 9. Nonetheless, this move isn’t surprising since the Apple Watch 3 was already getting old and couldn’t run apps and watchOS software smoothly. Apple will release watchOS 9 for all compatible Apple Watch models on September 12 alongside iOS 16.
Are you looking forward to the release of iOS 16 and watchOS 9? Which new feature are you excited about the most? Drop a comment and let us know!
