This isn’t new at all. Apple has been consistent with long term updates for a while.
iPhones have been getting at least 5 major annual updates sense the iPhone 4. The average is 6 updates.
If anything, it gets to a point where the old hardware can barley handle the newer OS.
This is the equivalent of them promising to be called Apple in 5 years - it changes absolutly nothing.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_version_history
Edit: thinking about it, this gives them an excuse to reduce the number of years they support phones. Instead of 6-7, can we now expect that to become only 5 years?
This could be a huge loss disguised as a win
If they wanted to limit support to 5 years, they could’ve done so already. Apple never guarantees any support length, so they’re just committing to the minimum this new UK regulation requires. This is probably nothing more than a formality.
Public commitment to what? That’s two years less than Google’s latest Pixel.
Dude. Relax. This is definitely new, in that Apple never publicly committed to these updates in the past. They just did them. I would expect them to continue doing them.
Didn’t Apple push updates to older devices that made them slower so that you’d buy their newest?
Depends how cynical you want to be and whether or not you trust Apple.
They claimed to slow things down so the aging batteries could run for close to as long as they could when they were new
Just give me a performance slider so I can slow my phone down myself when I need it.
Anyway I have an android, battery lasts 2-3 days with normal usage (like 3h SoT per day for 3 days usage) so I don’t think I’ll have to worry about battery - and batteries are getting better with every new model, we’ll eventually reach a point where they’re a non-issue
It was more that older batteries can’t handle the power draw, so they would shut down if the power draw spiked by an expensive operation.
It was a really bad user experience so Apple throttled so phones wouldn’t crash.
If only they made their batteries easier to replace so this would be a non issue.
They did offer cheap battery replacements to anyone with the affected models, essentially just covering the labor cost. Like $30 for a brand new battery.
No one makes batteries easy to replace on flagships these days because everyone is more concerned with waterproofing and form factor than they are with ease of battery replacement. I do miss the days of my old HTC Sensation, where I could just pop the back off and swap out the battery. I would carry around charged spares with me, so I would just turn off the phone, swap the battery, and have full battery instantly.
Oh I thought it was just to get some extra juice out of the batteries, thanks for the info
and whether or not you trust Apple.
You mean the company that repeatedly lies about being eco-friendly? The one that lied about refurbishing traded-in phones that they sent off to be crushed? The one that constantly lies about repairability, citing “privacy and security”?
Why wouldn’t you trust them?
My guy, I never said whether you should trust them or not. I simply said “whether or not you trust Apple.” That is up for you to decide
My dude, that’s what we call a rhetorical question. It wasn’t some sort of accusation.
The one that lied about recycling traded-in phones that they sent off to be crushed.
Got a source for us on this?
The company they used for recycling services only deconstructed like ten percent of the phones due to the very complicated machines they use for deconstruction. They crushed (and then recycled) the rest. OP (that you responded to) is just making stuff up to get reactions.
Thank you for the article, but after reading the entire thing, all fault lay with the shitty recycling company not correctly following regulations and instead selling off phones, not on Apple since Apple has no way to recycle their devices themselves. I’m not an Apple dick-rider, but what you are saying and what the article is saying are two different things.
Can you please elaborate on where you determined Apple was fucking around so I may use it to spread the word? Because, no offense, but you sound like you are full of bullshit like everyone else in the internet. Please do not take this as a non-sequitur I’m really passionate on giving Apple the middle finger and you’re not helping.
What the recycling company did with the phones is completely irrelevant. The point is that Apple was advertising that these devices would be refurbished when they were sending them out to be destroyed.
When the lawsuits came to light, first reported in late 2020 by the Logic, a Canadian news outlet, industry observers were stunned. It wasn’t just the shocking scale of the purported heist; the incident implied that Apple was forcing a recycling partner to shred tens of thousands of iPhones that were apparently in prime condition for refurbishment. The timing was awkward: That same year, Apple had publicly committed to reaching 100% carbon neutrality across its product life cycle by 2030 and specified in an environmental report that “reuse is our first choice.” The shredding, critics said, contradicted Apple’s green marketing and was likely a way to keep cheaper used hardware from interfering with sales of new products.
https://9to5mac.com/2024/04/18/100000-iphones-stolen-instead-of-scrapped/
No one even knew about this until Apple sued said recycling company because they were not destroying them. They dropped the lawsuit because of all the bad press it was bringing them.
This myth keeps propagating online and it seems people never try to even Google what the issue was.
We know what Apple claims the issue was. You can’t blame someone who doesn’t believe Apple when they give them explanations of why their old devices suck when Apple goes to such great lengths to ensure planned obsolescence.
when Apple goes to such great lengths to ensure planned obsolescence.
My brother in J-Town, they release full OS updates for five year old phones, and security updates for eight year old phones.
There are LOTS of reasons to hate Apple. Support for older devices isn’t one of them.
Which is completely meaningless when you can’t repair the hardware 🤦 It’s okay, you don’t have to defend the corporations to make yourself feel better about your poor purchase decisions…
Which is completely meaningless when you can’t repair the hardware 🤦
Well sure, their anti-right-to-repair shit has been very frustrating. Certainly something worth hating them for. But you can repair those devices if you get a certified shop to do it. Or if you don’t mind not having biometric sensors or NFC. It isn’t an example of planned obsolescence, just an example of poorly communicating and handling potential security concerns. You’ll note that Apple isn’t alone in this (not that this excuses the behavior).
It’s okay, you don’t have to defend the corporations to make yourself feel better about your poor purchase decisions…
I’m not defending anyone. Hate on whomever you want, just hate them for accurate reasons. I was a proud OnePlus user when the Apple battery throttling went down, but I bothered to educate myself on the subject. It was poorly handled, but it wasn’t planned obsolescence.
They want to support their old devices for the same reason they don’t want to support Android with iMessage: they want parents to give their children their old Apple devices so the whole family gets locked into their ecosystem. That’s shitty. That’s worth hating them for.
But you can repair those devices if you get a certified shop to do it.
No you can’t. Apple has contracts with component manufacturers barring them from selling board level components to anyone. You can only buy complete assemblies which usually end up costing close to the price of an entire new device.
They also put a 500% premium on storage upgrades. And if you buy an identical device and drop it in, it will not function at all.
Or if you don’t mind not having biometric sensors or NFC
I dunno how you can just drop this and pretend like it’s not fucking appalling and intentionally malicious.
It isn’t an example of planned obsolescence, just an example of poorly communicating and handling potential security concerns.
That is some made-up bullshit if I’ve ever heard it.
The evidence against Apple and planned obsolescence is astounding and undeniable.
I think the main issue (amongst the tech community) was that they did this with out making it known to users (patch notes don’t count - especially with autoupdates, who reads them?) the device just started getting slower.
If there was an option that was presented to users once the device got below 80% battery health to slow down the system to make daily batter life longer, then that would be an actually welcome feature. The problem was Apple just went a did it, and to a normal non-technical user, that means their phone is dying and they need to upgrade.
Why in the world do patch notes “not count”? The whole point of those is to communicate changes to the users.
Because in the world of auto updates, patch notes aren’t presented to users, and the average user isn’t seeking them out to read them. They essentially just wake up to a new OS.
A what’s new pop up or something would be more effective.
A what’s new pop-up that would immediately be closed by 99.99% of users because the patch notes literally take twenty minutes to read (I read them all). It’s not useful to waste time adding a dialog that the vast vast majority of users aren’t going to use and that users that want to see it can literally just click the update notes in the settings dialog.
Pop up
“Hi, you’re battery is getting old. Would you like to enable a mode that slows down your phone to preserve battery life, Yes or No.”
If there was an option that was presented to users once the device got below 80% battery health to slow down the system to make daily batter life longer
This isn’t why they did it. Degraded Li-ion batteries cannot sustain their rated voltage at high currents due to increased internal resistance. Sufficiently undervolted CPUs/memory cells produce errors (specifically bit flips), which can rather quickly lead to memory corruption and a crash.
Reducing the CPU frequency (thereby reducing the peak current draw) is practically necessary in the face of a degraded battery. Various laptops were infamous for not doing this, because it resulted in a ~20-30 minute battery life, as the voltage drop became too great once the battery charge drops below 80-90%. Within the context of a smartphone, neglecting to use the remaining 80-90% would make it basically useless.
What Apple (and the rest of the smartphone industry, at this point) really needs to do is make their batteries replaceable.
I suppose it may be the Mandela effect, but I thought they did announce it, just not everyone read it.
Just like the idiots at work who ignored a newsletter, two email blasts and announcement on a support text that there would be an upgrade. Then marched blindly ahead for the three week transition, ignored the support threads about upgrading, and it was suddenly our fault when the old systems “disappeared without warning”
A battery that lasts 8 hours and is a little slower, or a battery that lasts an hour… huh that’s a pretty easy choice, but yeah it can always be swung to make someone look bad.
They’ve been doing this for years
They’ve been doing this, but because others have not been doing this, there is now regulation in this space.
Apple had to disclose this in writing to be fully compliant with PSTI.
All in all, Apple had to agree to this in writing to be compliant with PSTI. They’ve already been doing this for a long time.
This is kind of like asking the Fast and Furious franchise to agree, in writing, to talk about family.
From first supply date.
I’d be more impressed if the did it from last supply date.
They still sell the 13, so you’ll only get 3 updates, not 5 with this announcement.
“At least”. Most iPhones have been updated for 7 years or more
My last phone lasted me 10 years, and even then I was tempted to just swap out some parts to keep it running.
There’s no reason 10+ years couldn’t be the norm for a smartphone, at least for people that don’t need a portable RTX 4090.
My iPhone 6 was still getting security updates last year. Battery lasted all day (I replaced it myself 2yrs before that). Solid phone. Handed it down to my daughter. Definitely at that point with technology that the requirements for a phone aren’t going up as fast as tech has so there’s less reason to replace things all the time. My last PC was up to 12years before I turned it into a server and built a new one.
My Pixel 4a 5G just died. Screen turned off, nothing turns the phone back on. Had it for just over 3 years.
I have a Samsung S8 that I’m using right now, and it accomplishes the vast majority of my day to day needs. I’m only missing a better camera, and Android 9 prevents the use of some apps. This this is from 2017! Glad I kept it in a drawer.
iPhones routinely last 5-7 years just from security updates. I’ve heard of Genius Bar employees supporting iPhones over ten years old.
Big difference: on android you can stay 6 version behind and you probably find any incompatible app during real life use. Browser and framework (google play services) continue to get updates
On iOS once your device stops getting updates it becomes ewaste as almost every app becomes incompatible after 1-2 years . Browser stops getting updates at all so your browsing experience will degrade fast
Not sure where you got that, my iPhone 6 was still getting OS updates last year (mostly security ones). I didn’t have any issues with the App Store either. Now there were a few apps like Pokémon Go that the phone couldn’t handle, but that’d be true io any old PC. Devs gear their apps to the larger percentage of devices so they can leverage the newer tech. Progress is what it is. Devs aren’t going to code for a 10yo phone if 0.5% of people have it.
That’s true, but this happens because usually 95% of people are always on the latest version a few months after the new version was released. For developers, it’s really not worth supporting older versions when the overwhelming majority of users already upgraded.
Still, many large companies still support older versions when the user base is very huge. I work for a huge bank and we had to support all the way to iOS 10. Only this year it was recently upped to iOS 14, which now covers probably 99.99% of users.
And if you stay that many versions behind, you carry a gold mine of vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Your phone might work, but it’s far from a safe or good idea.
Android and iOS developer here. Web and app.
I have so many damn phones floating around my damn desk. I have near old iOS devices that are still solid for web browsing.
The bigger problem is that mobile processors saw MASSIVE performance changes over the past decade, and apps that are developed for new silicon run like shit on old ass hardware.
In other words, performance with new apps is the pain I feel first. Browsing the web on an old iPhone 6 is generally fine.
I’m on Android 9 and the only apps that haven’t played nice are a couple banking apps.
Unfortunately banking apps are a necessity for lots of people.
Certainly. Though of the 9 that I attempted to install, 1 required a newer OS.
I can’t imagine the number of security holes it has 🥹
You apple fanboys are exaggerating that. On the 2.5 billion android devices, 88% of them aren’t running the latest version and probably would never get it. Yet I don’t see any widespread hacking.
I responded to the wrong comment. The same person said that they are still running android 9 on their phone. It is a couple comments up from this one.
902 security vulnerabilities published for Android 9, 179 of which are “critical” (9+) vulnerability scores.
Including “This could lead to remote escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.”
Yeah, no thanks.
most of them if not all are mitigated by google play services. otherwise there would be 2 billion of infected android phones and there would be many alarmist posts like when ten years ago stagefright happened
