A woman holds an iPhone 11 Pro Max after it went on sale at the Apple Store in Beijing on September 20, 2019. Jason Lee/Reuters

Apple’s new software updates are usually available for iPhones that are six to seven years old. That’s because hardware limitations likely make it challenging for aging devices to run the new software properly.

The oldest phones that support iOS 18, the current version of Apple’s iPhone software, are the iPhone XS, XS Max and iPhone XR, which launched in 2018. If Apple decides to stop supporting those devices with this year’s update, users may need an iPhone 11 or later to upgrade to the latest software.

That doesn’t mean older iPhones will stop functioning, but users won’t be able to install the update. As a result, they’ll miss out on new functions and may be vulnerable to security risks.

Apple Intelligence requires even newer devices; the technology is only supported on the iPhone 15 Pro and later because those devices have more powerful processors. Wall Street had hoped that Apple Intelligence would serve as a catalyst for driving iPhone upgrades for this reason, although consumers aren’t buying new iPhones for AI just yet, said Carolina Milanesi, president and principal analyst at tech analysis firm Creative Strategies.

“I do believe that at the end of the day, AI is going to make it easier for everybody to use their devices,” she said.