That iPhone 6 of yours won’t be compatible with WhatsApp in 2025

I know there’s a number of teens and other Ama2000s rocking old iPhones just so their emails can say ‘Sent from my iPhone’. 

Well, going with an iPhone 6 (going for $40-60 on the streets) was a solid plan if you just had to use an Apple smartphone. Until now. 

Like it or not, (you probably hate it), iMessage is not a thing in Zimbabwe. This is WhatsApp country and the mighty Zuck reigns in these parts. 

That means you need WhatsApp otherwise you might as well get a feature phone (kambudzi). Unfortunately, WhatsApp will be dropping support for some of these older iPhones. 

WhatsApp will stop working on iPhones running iOS 15.0 or older versions starting May 5, 2025. So, that means the iPhone 6, 6 Plus and older devices will be affected. 

It’s time you came home, ditch that old iPhone and join the robot tribe. We have excellent budget phones on this side of the aisle, you will find something usable, I promise.

I know my Android people are wondering if there’s a similar move for their platform. Fortunately, no. WhatsApp will continue to support devices running Android 5.0 and newer. 

Android 5.0 (Lollipop) came out way back in 2014 and I don’t imagine too many people have older devices than that. So, for now, your WhatsApp needs will be met by something like a Samsung Galaxy S5. 

The iPhone 6 that’s losing support also came out in 2014 and so I hope WhatsApp is acknowledging that Android users are sometimes budget conscious and may need longer support.