It’s  been quite a while since the last update to the specs matrix, and the main reason it took so long is that I was looking for a better way to publish it that would allow me to add new devices and features faster, while at the same time making it more accessible.

So without further ado, here’s the new version!

Since this is now a web-based spreadsheet, you can sort and filter the list. There are two default filters (device type and iOS version) but you can easily add your own filters or search the table with the plus button. The new specs matrix also lives at a fixed URL, so no more juggling different PDF versions 🙂 You can still print or export the data right from the menu in the top right-hand corner, making it easy to create a PDF if that’s what you want. By the way, the web UI is based on Grist, a suite of  very powerful open-source tools for collaborative spreadsheets. Check it out!

This is just the start of the rework, though. Next on the roadmap: an option to customize the columns and adding back all of the older devices that I had to drop to save space in the PDF. Not that anybody still uses them for development, but I think it’s just cool to see how the platform has evolved over the last *checks notes* 19 years (wow).

As always, let me know what you think in the comments!

iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max have been added to the list. I removed the old A9 and A10 models, so the list includes all iPhone models supported by iOS 16.0 and later. That also means the last iPod touch had to go.

After six years, I finally replaced my iPhone X with a new model. Not because it wouldn’t still work perfectly fine (even the battery is still in good shape), but not being able to get the latest OS version felt just wrong, even though I’m not developing for iPhone at the moment. I think it’s still great to get six years of support for a phone – looking at old posts I saw it was only four years not long ago.

Another big plus with the new models is of course the USB-C port. I’m glad I already had the “port” row ready for that. Speaking of rows: The iPhone Matrix now also has one for the model number, a feature request that was already implemented in the last update for iPad.

The only other change is the upgrade from Geekbench5 to Geekbench6, which was necessary because the old version is not available for the latest models.

Download iPhone Specs Matrix 1.6

Download printer-friendly version

As always: If you find any errors or have suggestions to improve the list, please let me know in the comments!

tl;dr: Get the specs matrix for iPads here and a printer-friendly version here. You can find the version for iPhones here.

I still remember the early days of iOS (iPhoneOS!) when developers used to buy every new model to test their apps. I don’t know anybody who is still doing that today, where Apple is releasing up to 9 iPhones and iPads each year. It wouldn’t only be crazy expensive, the differences between some models are totally negligable from a developers point of view.

But you still need a few test devices. And that’s where I see the main purpose of the specs matrix, helping you pick test devices that support all features that your app requires, but still offer a variety of screen sizes, RAM, CPU and graphics performance, biometric sensors and other hardware features that you can’t really test in a simulator.

Please post any error you find in the comments! And yes, the benchmarks for the brand new iPad Pro’s are missing, because I can’t find any at the time of writing. I’ll add them to the next version.

I just made a quick update of the iPhone Specs Matrix to include compatibility with iOS 14.

There’s also a printer-friendly version.

This year, all iPhones running the last version (currently 13.5.1) will be able to update to the new OS. So no phone will get stuck on iOS 13, just like two years ago when iOS 12 was released for all phones supporting iOS 11.

Other than iOS 14 compatibility, the new matrix also adds the iPhone SE 2nd Generation, fixes the labels of the Geekbench result rows (hat tip to Matthew) and replaces “Apple Pay” with “NFC”. In the NFC row, I tried to describe the different sets of NFC features:
• Apple Pay only – device has a NFC chip but it is not accessible from your app.
• read/write – device supports reading and (starting with iOS 13) writing NFC tags from your app.
• bg read – In addition to read/write, the device will let you get background tag reading notifications in your app.

Thanks to Daniel for this suggestion!

If you spot any errors, please let me know in the comments. And now back to watching WWDC!