What an Older, Security-Only Software Branch Still Gets From Apple

When a device ages off Apple’s current iOS, iPadOS or macOS branch, it does not necessarily stop receiving updates. Apple’s own security index shows a second kind of update, security-only, that keeps arriving on a fixed list of older devices and versions without ever bringing a new feature. iPadOS shares this pattern with iOS on…

Still Current, Still Patched or Neither: Apple's Three States of Software Support

Apple’s software support is not a single on-or-off switch. Reading Apple’s own security releases index shows three distinct states a device can occupy at any moment: still receiving the current operating system, still receiving security-only patches on an older branch, or appearing in neither list Apple currently publishes. Apple's iOS interface. iOS currently has two…