[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] Apple is ending support in iPadOS 27 for five iPad models based on A12 and A12X chips. Some have also argued that older iPad users should be able to keep using earlier operating systems rather than being unable to receive the latest one. IT outlet NineToFiveMac reported the related details on June 27 local time.

The devices excluded from iPadOS 27 support are the iPad (8th generation), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad mini (5th generation), 11-inch iPad Pro (1st generation) and 12.9-inch iPad Pro (3rd generation). All were released between 2018 and 2020 and use an A12 or A12X chip.

The end of operating system support is a different move from the iPhone. Apple decided to keep supporting in iOS 27 all iPhone models that supported iOS 26. But iPadOS 27 excludes some older iPads from support.

The issue is the operating system environment users will be left with, rather than the end of support itself. NineToFiveMac assessed that iPadOS 26 is difficult to see as a satisfactory "final operating system" on older devices. The author pointed to some remaining bugs and battery drain issues, and said iOS improved usability through the 26.5 update during the same period, but the iPad did not.

Two alternatives were suggested. First is allowing a downgrade to iPadOS 18. Apple currently stops signing earlier operating systems after a certain period, meaning users cannot revert to older versions. At present, most supported devices can install only iPadOS 26.5, the latest version.

However, one view is that older versions are not completely behind in security terms. Apple is still providing security updates for the iPadOS 18 line, and recently released iPadOS 18.7.9 alongside iPadOS 26.5. The outlet said, "iPadOS 18.7.9 is a sufficiently secure operating system," and argued it should remain an option for A12-based devices that cannot receive iPadOS 27.

Another possibility is that Apple expands the scope of support in part. There has been a similar case. Apple announced in 2022 that it would initially provide the Stage Manager feature in iPadOS 16 only on models with M1 chips or higher, but expanded support during beta testing to include 2018 and 2020 iPad Pro models. It adjusted the performance burden by limiting the external display feature.

It has also been raised that this time Apple could keep supporting A12-based iPads by limiting some features. NineToFiveMac analysed that some functions, such as window management, could suffer performance drops with the A12 GPU and 4GB RAM, but users would likely prefer being able to keep using the device overall even if they accept some feature restrictions. The outlet also noted, "From the outside, it is difficult to find a clear reason why Apple excluded these devices from support."

Ultimately, the end of iPadOS 27 support is going beyond simply meaning that the lifespan of older devices is over, and is leading to a question of what software choices Apple will offer existing users.

The market sees future interest in whether Apple will allow restoration of older operating systems or consider exceptional support by limiting some features.