How long will iPhone 12 receive updates?

these forums are user helping other users like yourself, it's sort of going

to a physical apple store and asking other customers their advice

non of us can say for sure, not even sure if apple knows yet

and then there is the question of what you mean by updates or you mean normal ones or security updates

but iphone 11 the generation earlier recieved the major update 26.4 and they will most likely exclude that from getting a new major updates before they exclude the iphone 12.

[EDIT: Fixed "one-off" mistake in the version number lists]

Nobody can say for certain – but historically, iPhones have often received four to six major iOS updates, with five being typical. The iPhone 12 shipped with iOS 14, so has already received five major updates (15, 16, 17, 18, and 26). If it is lucky, it will receive iOS 27. I wouldn't expect it to receive iOS 28, since as far as I know, no iPhone has ever received seven major iOS updates.

By funny coincidence, someone asked a similar question about the iPhone 13.

When will the iPhone 13 stop updating? - Apple Community

If you are asking about the iPhone 12 because you have one, and want to hold onto it for as long as possible, then basically the answer is just "wait and see what happens". If you are asking because you are thinking about buying one, the answer is that it's a bit late in the cycle to be buying this phone.

pogster wrote:

If it helps my iPhone 5S that was first released in 2013 is still getting security updates. It's now running iOS 12.5.8 which was released in January of this year. How long it will continue to be supported in such a way no one here knows. But whether it does, or does not, it will still continue to operate.

iOS 12.5.8 is a special case. That release contains an updated security certificate that you need for iMessages, FaceTime, and other services to keep working after January of next year. (That's when the certificate built into iOS 12.5.7 would have expired.)

The previous release of iOS 12 was iOS 12.5.7, released on January 23, 2023. That three-year difference quite strongly suggests that Apple had stopped releasing bug and security fixes for iOS 12; that the only reason the 12.5.8 was even considered was because Messages, FaceTime, etc. are so visible.

As far as I can tell, none of the iPhones that are older than the iPhone 5s got the fix. Those iPhones were pretty much obsolete already, and Apple may have decided it didn't make sense to bother with updating them.

If it helps my iPhone 5S that was first released in 2013 is still getting security updates. It's now running iOS 12.5.8 which was released in January of this year. How long it will continue to be supported in such a way no one here knows. But whether it does, or does not, it will still continue to operate.

pogster wrote:

If it helps my iPhone 5S that was first released in 2013 is still getting security updates. It's now running iOS 12.5.8 which was released in January of this year. How long it will continue to be supported in such a way no one here knows. But whether it does, or does not, it will still continue to operate.

But surely by now, a lot of apps which require higher iOS versions likely no longer work on your 5s?