feat(ios)!: bump minimum deployment target to 16

[OS-ruimoreiramendes]

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Description

Raise iOS minimum deployment target from 15.0 to 16.0 across Capacitor core podspecs, SPM/CocoaPods app templates, Xcode build configurations, and CLI defaults. Also removes a now-unreachable #available(iOS 15.4) guard in CAPBridgeViewController.

Change Type

• Fix
• Feature
• Refactor
• Breaking Change
• Documentation
• Other (CI, chores, etc.)

Rationale / Problems Fixed

iOS 16.0 covers ~94.4% of active devices as of March 2026 (likely >95% by year-end). Raising the floor unlocks removal of availability-checked code paths across core and plugins.

Refs: RMET-4712

Tests or Reproductions

Validated locally on the next branch:

• xcodebuild of Capacitor framework: BUILD SUCCEEDED
• xcodebuild of Cordova (CapacitorCordova) framework: BUILD SUCCEEDED
• xcodebuild test of Capacitor scheme (CodableTests + CapacitorTests): TEST SUCCEEDED
• npm run build in cli/: TypeScript compiles
• Generated a fresh app via local CLI (npx cap add ios) and confirmed templates produce IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 16.0 and .iOS(.v16)

Platforms Affected

• Android
• iOS
• Web