Topic summary

IOS 12

IOS 12

iOS 12 is the twelfth major release of the iOSmobile operating system developed by Apple. Aesthetically similar to its predecessor, iOS 11, it focuses more on performance than on new features, quality improvements and security updates. Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4, 2018, iOS 12 was released to the public on September 17, 2018. It was succeeded for the iPhone and iPod Touch by iOS 13 on September 19, 2019, and for the iPad by iPadOS 13 on September 24, 2019.

Security updates for iOS 12 continued for four years after the releases of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 for devices unable to run the newer versions. The last update, version 12.5.8, was released on January 26, 2026, to extend an expiring certificate to allow iMessage, FaceTime, and device activation to work past 2027, notably over three years after the previous update (in 2023) and over seven years since the release of iOS 12. The signing thereof was paused by Apple after Telstra was made aware of an "issue preventing some older Apple devices from connecting to our network, including calls to 000", stating that they are currently "working on this as a priority with Apple". iOS 15.8.6, iOS 16.7.13, and iOS 18.7.4 were also allegedly affected. The issue was later resolved and the updates re-released.