diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 7996b4c742..8ad5c95dc2 100755
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -189,8 +189,8 @@ workflows:
     jobs:
       - Formatting
       - Build-Docs
-      - PyTorch-v1_1
-      - PyTorch-v1_2
+      #- PyTorch-v1_1
+      #- PyTorch-v1_2
       - PyTorch-v1_3
       - PyTorch-v1_4
       - PyTorch-v1_5
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-testing.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-testing.yml
index 711faec4ce..505d3d4c36 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-testing.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-testing.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ jobs:
         python-version: [3.6, 3.7, 3.8]
         requires: ['minimal', 'latest']
         exclude:
-          # excludes node 4 on macOS
+          # excludes PT 1.3 as it is missing on pypi
           - python-version: 3.8
             requires: 'minimal'
 
@@ -52,13 +52,13 @@ jobs:
     - name: Setup Windows on Latest
       if: runner.os == 'windows' && matrix.requires == 'latest'
       run: |
-        python -c "req = open('requirements.txt').read().replace('torch>=1.1', 'torch<1.5') ; open('requirements.txt', 'w').write(req)"
+        python -c "req = open('requirements.txt').read().replace('torch>=1.3', 'torch<1.5') ; open('requirements.txt', 'w').write(req)"
 
     # versions <= 1.3 may have issues on mac with some BLAS ops due to missing mkl (https://github.com/pytorch/pytorch/issues/18996)
     - name: Setup MacOS Minimal
       if: runner.os == 'macOS' && matrix.requires == 'minimal'
       run : |
-        python -c "req = open('requirements.txt').read().replace('torch>=1.1', 'torch>=1.4') ; open('requirements.txt', 'w').write(req)"
+        python -c "req = open('requirements.txt').read().replace('torch>=1.3', 'torch>=1.4') ; open('requirements.txt', 'w').write(req)"
 
     - name: Set min. dependencies
       if: matrix.requires == 'minimal'
diff --git a/.mergify.yml b/.mergify.yml
index aa75c74dfa..3021251b91 100644
--- a/.mergify.yml
+++ b/.mergify.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pull_request_rules:
       # no requested chnages from any reviewer
       - "#changes-requested-reviews-by=0"
       # this serves as ALL check has to pass as we have actually 27 tests in total
-      - "#status-success>=30"
+      - "#status-success>=28"
       # this is just in case since we rely on GPU tests (note: redundand to the above)
       - status-success=continuous-integration/drone/pr
       # this is patter-like, unofrunatly serves as `any(...)` (note: redundand to the above)
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 12be131ac8..8392d65a47 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
 ### Deprecated
 
+- Dropped official support/testing for older PyTorch versions <1.3 ([#1917](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/pull/1917))
+
 ### Removed
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b6fb000dad..2d05659b36 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -27,13 +27,13 @@ removed until codecov badge isn't empy. likely a config error showing nothing on
 ## Continuous Integration
 <center>
 
-| System / PyTorch ver. | 1.1 (min. reg) | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 (latest) |
-| :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: |
-| Linux py3.6 [CPU] | [![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning.svg?style=svg)](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning) | [![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning.svg?style=svg)](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning) | [![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning.svg?style=svg)](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning) | [![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning.svg?style=svg)](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning) | [![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning.svg?style=svg)](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning) |
-| Linux py3.7 [GPU] | - | - | - | - | [![Build Status](http://35.192.60.23/api/badges/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/status.svg)](http://35.192.60.23/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning) |
-| Linux py3.6 / py3.7 / py3.8 | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) | - | - | - | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) |
-| OSX py3.6 / py3.7 / py3.8| - | - | - | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) |
-| Windows py3.6 / py3.7 / py3.8 | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) | - | - | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) | - |
+| System / PyTorch ver. | 1.3 (min. reg) | 1.4 | 1.5 (latest) |
+| :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: |
+| Linux py3.6 [CPU] | [![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning.svg?style=svg)](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning) | [![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning.svg?style=svg)](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning) | [![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning.svg?style=svg)](https://circleci.com/gh/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning) |
+| Linux py3.7 [GPU] | - | - | [![Build Status](http://35.192.60.23/api/badges/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/status.svg)](http://35.192.60.23/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning) |
+| Linux py3.6 / py3.7 / py3.8 | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) | - | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) |
+| OSX py3.6 / py3.7 / py3.8| - | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) |
+| Windows py3.6 / py3.7 / py3.8 | [![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) |[![CI testing](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/workflows/CI%20testing/badge.svg?event=push)](https://github.com/PyTorchLightning/pytorch-lightning/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI+testing%22) | - |
 
 </center>
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index d4bf8cad3b..0aa44aae24 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 tqdm>=4.41.0
 numpy>=1.16.4
-torch>=1.1
+torch>=1.3
 tensorboard>=1.14
 future>=0.17.1  # required for builtins in setup.py
 pyyaml>=3.13