Apple Watch Series 3 will be removed from the watchOS 9 supported device list. However, iPadOS 16 support list includes old models.
Apple Watch Series 3 is ALSO dead! At the Keynote address of WWDC 2022, Apple has released a wide variety of software updates for all of its ecosystem devices. Unfortunately, they have dropped support for some old but popular devices. iOS 16 has surprisingly dropped support for the iPhone 7 generation along with iPhone 6S and iPhone SE 1st Gen and iPod Touch. Outside of the iOS ecosystem, it is also the Apple Watch Series 3 that is exempt from the latest software updates. Until recently, the Watch Series 3 was sold as Apple’s entry-level smartwatch.
On its list of device support, Apple states that “watchOS 9 will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple Watch Series 4 or later with iPhone 8 or later and iPhone SE (2nd generation) or later, with iOS 16.” This excludes the Apple Watch Series 3 from the list. watchOS 9 is a mild update over watchOS 8, with only a few visual changes and some additional health features.
ALSO READ: iOS 16 is NOT coming to iPhone 7, iPhone 6S, iPhone SE 1st Gen, iPod Touch! What to do now?
Apple Watch Series 3 has fallen
That’s why the watchOS 9 update comes only to these Apple Watch models:
Apple Watch Series 4
Apple Watch Series 5
Apple Watch SE
Apple Watch Series 6
Apple Watch Series 7
However, iPad users rejoice
While the Apple Watch Series 3 will no longer receive the updates, iPad users have something to celebrate. iPadOS 16 with its variety of new features is available on several older iPad models. “New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPad (5th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), and all iPad Pro models,” Apple said. †
Therefore, the iPad models that get the update are:
iPad Pro (all models)
iPad Air (3rd generation and later)
iPad (5th generation and later)
iPad mini (5th generation and later)
It is surprising to see the iPad 5th generation and iPad 6th generation getting the updates despite being on the very old A9 and A10 chips. The iPhone models on A9 and A10 chips have been removed from the latest iOS support.
