Apple’s Clips App Hints iPhone 5 Will Soon Be Obsolete

Yesterday, Apple officially released its innovative Clips video creation app — but unfortunately, not every iPhone owner will be able to use it. That’s because Clips only supports 64-bit devices — so 32-bit iPhones won’t be able to download or use the application. That includes the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPad 4, and older devices. This seems to be despite the fact that Clips requires iOS 10.3, which itself features 32-bit device support.

Of course, this comes as yet another sign that Apple will be dropping iOS support for 32-bit devices entirely. Apple has been warning users in a pop-up window that 32-bit applications could slow down their devices since iOS 9 — but in iOS 10.3, Apple has made that message much clearer: stating that 32-bit apps simply won’t work in “future versions of iOS.” The company also added additional information in that pop-up window, as well as the ability to see all 32-bit applications downloaded on a particular device.

To be clear, when Apple does decide to finally cut off 32-bit app support, it won’t immediately kill pre-iPhone 5s devices. However, as time goes on, 32-bit devices will be left behind as far as iOS and individual app updates, and they’ll eventually become obsolete. Of course, this isn’t entirely out of the ordinary — it’s essentially inevitable for older devices as technology progresses — but it is basically the end of an era of 32-bit processors. Also worth noting is that the end of 32-bit support could mean as many as 187,000 applications could be axed from the App Store, according to The Australian.

It’s not entirely clear exactly when Apple will cut the cord on 32-bit support — but preliminary reports of the iOS 10.3.2 beta seem to suggest that Apple is already undergoing the process, which would make Cupertino’s surprise iOS 10.3.1 update the last 32-bit operating system. In any case, it’s likely that by the time iOS 11 rolls out, 32-bit support will be a thing of the past.