Alongside iOS 26.2.1, Apple today released an updated version of iOS 12 for devices that are still running that operating system update, eight years after the software was first released.

iPhone 5s

According to Apple's release notes for the update, iOS 12.5.8 extends the certificate required for features like iMessage, FaceTime, and device activation, so they will continue to work after January 2027.

Originally, certificate-limited functions like device activation would have ceased when the certificate expired, but now key features on the two older iPhones will continue to work in the years to come.

Prior to now, the ‌iPhone‌ 5s and ‌iPhone‌ 6 last received software updates in January 2023, when Apple released important security fixes.

Apple has publicly committed to providing a minimum of five years of security updates for an ‌iPhone‌ from the time that it launches, but it often offers vulnerability fixes for an even longer period of time.

The ‌iPhone‌ 6s, for example, was released 11 years ago, but it received a security update in September 2025 with the launch of iOS 15.8.5. The device received an iOS 15.8.6 update just today, adding the same certificate extension.

Apple also released new versions of iOS 18 and iOS 16.

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