There will always come a time when technology becomes outdated, as even the most powerful devices on the market now will eventually be dwarfed by several enhancements in the years to come.
Sometimes it can take years whereas for certain gadgets it can even take decades, yet with iPhones everybody knows that it won't be long until their shelf life is over.
While older Apple devices are officially categorised as 'obsolete' when they reach an age where the manufacturer won't even supply parts for repairs, there is a stage just before that when the device no longer receives any updates.
This doesn't necessarily render the phone useless, but it's not longer supported by Apple and therefore could become vulnerable to cybersecurity flaws, making it a good idea to upgrade as soon as possible.
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Unfortunately, three of the most iconic iPhones will no longer be supported by the end of this month, leaving potentially millions of owners wondering what they should do when the time hits.
Which iPhones will no longer be supported?
As reported by the Metro, the soon-to-be-released iOS 26 update by the end of this month will mean that the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max will no longer receive updates, and will be officially classified as 'Unsupported'.
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They were previously the three oldest devices that could still receive the most recent iOS 18 update which dropped last September, and a year later it'll finally be their turn to drop off and become old once and for all.
The iPhone X lineup was a particular favorite of the Apple community thanks to the dramatic refresh it brought to the visual design, shedding the comparatively dated top and bottom bezels for a far more seamless look.
It's roughly the same design language that the modern devices follow, and that will almost definitely continue when the iPhone 17 is revealed next week with all of its fancy new colors.
What should you do with unsupported iPhones?
While there's nothing necessarily stopping you from continuing to use your iPhone X, it's probably a good idea to think about upgrading to a newer device if you want to take advantage of all the latest features.
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There's a good chance that anyone with an iPhone X will have noticed it slowing down over the past few years, but as mentioned previously the lack of new updates will also open you up to security flaws that would otherwise be fixed with software patches, so it's fully safe to continue using on a daily basis.
Commercial waste disposal company Business Waste has estimated that there could be roughly 1,238,944 kilograms of metals across all of the iPhone X units sold – around the equivalent of 103 double-decker buses – so if everyone chucked their device out at the same time then there could be issues.
Apple do offer a recycling service that you can use to safely and easily get rid of an iPhone X that you're not using anymore, but there have been suggestions across social media if you're not quite ready to part with it yet.
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One of the most popular suggestions is to turn it into a dedicated media player, with multiple comments suggesting the same thing in a Reddit thread, and it's something you could simply leave connected to a speaker for easy access.
You could also use it as a sat nav or GPS system to save battery on your actual phone, as maps work exactly the same no matter what device you are using it on — and you don't even need a data plan to make it work.
If you've got a Mac Mini and want to upgrade your online meetings then turning it into a webcam is also a fantastic idea, as the rear camera will offer far better image quality than almost every webcam out there.