iPhone 4s

The iPhone 4S was supported for an impressive five years, finally receiving its last official update, iOS 9.3.6, in 2019. The update was released primarily to address an important GPS location bug that affected older devices. Because it cannot run iOS 10 or later, almost all modern third-party apps will no longer launch or install on the device.

The iPhone 4S marked the official debut of Siri, Apple's intelligent voice assistant. It also introduced Apple's dual-core A5 chip and an upgraded 8-megapixel rear camera capable of recording 1080p HD video for the first time on an iPhone. These hardware and software features were heavily promoted during Tim Cook's first major keynote presentation in 2011.

Unfortunately, the iPhone 4S only contains a 3G cellular modem and lacks the hardware necessary to connect to modern 4G LTE or 5G networks. As carriers around the world systematically shut down their 3G networks to repurpose the spectrum, the iPhone 4S has largely lost the ability to make cellular calls or send texts. It can still, however, function perfectly fine as a digital camera or iPod over Wi-Fi.

The iPhone 4S uses Apple's older, wide 30-pin dock connector, predating the reversible Lightning port that was introduced with the iPhone 5. This means it is not compatible with modern Lightning or USB-C cables without a specialized adapter. Finding original 30-pin charging cables and accessories today is largely limited to the secondhand and vintage electronics market.