As is the case with nearly every Apple operating system (OS) update, not all of iOS 15’s key new features will be available to every iPhone that supports the OS update.
For example, while iOS 15 does indeed run on the iPhone 6s and newer, a few specific features are exclusive to the iPhone XS/XR and newer.
Below is a full list of all the iOS 15 features that will only be available on newer iPhones.
Spatial Audio on FaceTime
This feature spreads our callers’ voices so that they sound like they’re coming from the direction they’re positioned in on the display during the call.
Portrait Mode on FaceTime
Apple’s video chat platform now supports blurred backgrounds with ‘Portrait Mode.’
Live text in photos
Like Google Lens, you can now look-up, translate and copy and paste text found in photos you’ve shot.
New 3D globe in Apple Maps
Apple’s more detailed version of Apple Maps will only be available on newer iPhones.
Better walking directions in Maps
The augmented reality (AR) directions coming to Maps with iOS 15 won’t work on older iPhones
Weather app animated backgrounds
While some of these omissions make sense, this one is a bit out there. The new animations featured in Apple’s Weather app aren’t coming to older iPhones that support iOS 15.
On-device speech processing
Only iPhones that support Apple’s Neural Engine include this feature
New Key support in wallet
Though it’s unlikely we’ll see this feature in Canada, only the iPhone XR/XS and newer will support new Wallet formats, including house, hotel, office and car keys.
