Apple’s support pages spell out, in exact words, when a Mac or iPhone becomes vintage or obsolete for hardware service. No equivalent document exists for software. How long an OS version keeps receiving security fixes, or how long Apple keeps signing it, is something Apple has never published as a stated policy. Apple has not…
Software Support
Apple's Current iPadOS Branch Is Defined by Five Separate Device Cutoffs
Apple’s security index does not describe the current iPadOS branch with one simple age cutoff. It uses five, one for each iPad product line still receiving it, where the equivalent iPhone description on the same page needs only two. iPad mini is one of five separate iPad product lines named in Apple's current iPadOS branch.…
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…
Apple Is Patching Three Different Versions of macOS at the Same Time
Apple’s security releases index shows three separate versions of macOS, Tahoe, Sequoia and Sonoma, all receiving security updates within the same short windows across July and August 2026. That is a pattern visible in Apple’s own table, not a policy Apple has stated about how many macOS versions it supports at once. The Mac mini…
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…