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Hopefully you have a recent Apple Watch or iPad, otherwise watchOS 27 and iPadOS 27 won’t work on your device. Apple often drops support for older devices with the latest software updates, but this year it’s culling more device generations than ever before.
Apple is dropping support for four generations of Apple Watch models in watchOS 27. According to Apple’s website, the latest watchOS update will only be available On Apple Watch Series 10 and above, Apple Watch Ultra 2 and above, and Apple Watch SE 3.
This means that if you have an Apple Watch Series 9 model that’s about three years old, you’re out of luck. Likewise, if you purchased the original Apple Watch Ultra in 2022, there won’t be any watchOS 27 update waiting for you this fall.
It’s a surprise boost for Apple Watch models, which consumers certainly don’t update as much as the iPhone does. WatchOS 26, released a year ago, supports Apple Watch Series 6 and later, as well as Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) and later, and all Apple Watch Ultra models. This was the same hardware list as watchOS 11.
On the iPad side, iPadOS 27 ends support For 3rd generation iPad Air and 8th generation regular iPad models. iPad Pro owners will also need a 4th generation model that is 12.9 inches or higher, or a 2nd generation model that is 11 inches or higher.
watchOS 27 and iPadOS 27 include an enhanced version of Siri dubbed Siri AI. This may explain why watchOS 27 is only available on Watch models that support Apple Intelligence. Surprisingly, Apple will maintain support for iPhone 11 models running iOS 27 later this year. This means that the iPhone from 2019 is supported by the latest operating system updates, but the Apple Watch from 2022 is not. Make it logical.
June 8 correction: An earlier version of this article misstated which iPads would receive iPadOS 27. 4th generation (A14) and 5th generation (M1) iPad Air are supported, not unsupported.
