Your older iPhone could soon lose WhatsApp – here are the phones affected

Don't worry though, you have until May to get a new one if yours is on the list

WhatsApp and other social networks on iPhone
(Image credit: Matt Cardy / Getty Images)
Britta O'Boyle
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Quick Summary

WhatsApp has announced it is dropping support for an iPhone models that aren't running iOS 15.1 or newer, from May 2025.

In the run up to that, a report has found Meta has dropped support for the WhatsApp beta app for those iPhones.

If you have an older iPhone and you're a lover of messaging app WhatsApp, we have some bad news for you. We've previously reported that WhatsApp is dropping support for older iPhone models – by which we mean iPhone models that don't support iOS 15.1 – at the beginning of May.

That's still the case – don't worry, the date hasn't been brought forward. But, a recent report from WABetaInfo has said Meta has already dropped support for iPhone models that are running iOS versions older than iOS 15.1 in its latest beta update.

The report was picked up by 91Mobiles and it says that any iPhones that are running software that is older than iOS 15.1 won't be able to download the WhatsApp beta for iOS version 25.2.10.72 on Testflight.

It's worth mentioning that you will still be to use older versions of the WhatsApp beta if you have an iPhone that isn't running iOS 15.1 or later, but you won't get access to the new features, effectively making the beta app a little redundant.

If you want to run the latest version of the WhatsApp beta however, your only options are to upgrade the OS on your iPhone, and if that isn't possible because your iPhone doesn't support it, then you will need to upgrade your iPhone entirely.

The main WhatsApp app will be supported on iPhones running iOS 12 and newer until 5 May 2025. Both standard WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business will drop support for iPhones running earlier iOS versions than iOS 15.1 after this date however.

Which iPhones will lose support for WhatsApp in May?

This will predominately affect the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as the latest software they support is iOS 12.5.7.

Of course, it's never fun when support for a favourite app is dropped, but with WhatsApp pushing new features regularly, it's not surprising that newer hardware and software is required to offer the best performance.

Britta O'Boyle
Britta O'Boyle

Britta is a freelance technology journalist who has been writing about tech for over a decade. She's covered all consumer tech from phones, tablets and wearables to smart home and beauty tech, with everything in between. She has a fashion journalism degree from London College of Fashion and previously did a long stint as deputy editor of Pocket-lint, but you’ll now find her byline on several titles including GQ, the Express, the Mirror, TechRadar, Stuff and iMore. You'll never find her without her Apple Watch on, aiming to complete her rings so she can justify the extra bar of chocolate and she loves a good iPhone trick.

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