iPhone owners should quickly check which model they own to make sure they aren’t about to be blocked from chatting via the popular service. It appears that a trio of older Apple smartphones are about to be blocked from the Meta-owned platform and the only way to carry on messaging will be to upgrade to something a little more new.

That worrying update has been spotted by the ever-reliable team at WAbetaInfo, who say they have spotted a warning message telling users of older devices that things will stop working early next year.

In the alert, that pops up on the display, WhatsApp states: “WhatsApp will stop supporting this version of iOS after 5 May 2025. Please go to Settings > General, then tap Software Update to get the latest iOS version.”

As long as you have a device that can run iOS 15.1 or later, you’ll be fine as this is now the minimum requirement for WhatsApp on iPhone.

Sadly, three devices that can currently access WhatsApp aren’t compatible with later versions of Apple’s operating system, which means they’ll be blocked from the app in the spring.

The change will impact owners of call makers including the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus – these were all released over 10 years ago but there are sure to be plenty of people still using them. 

If you are one of the unlucky ones, you now have around six months to switch to something new or lose access to your WhatsApp chats.

According to WAbetaInfo, “One of the main reasons for this change is that newer versions of iOS include updated APIs and improved technologies that WhatsApp relies on to deliver new features. By not supporting older versions, WhatsApp will be able to optimize the app and introduce new features that simply wouldn’t be possible with outdated operating systems.”

It’s not the first time WhatsApp has blocked older devices from its platform and it probably won’t be the last.

This upcoming WhatsApp. block might not be the only reason to update your iPhone. Apple is about to launch its clever Apple Intelligence upgrade in the coming days which will bring a swathe of smart features to devices including automatic image editing, improved Siri and even the ability to write emails for you.

“In December, Apple Intelligence will be available for localised English in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K,” Apple recently confirmed in an update.

It will be available on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max soon – watch this space.