- Nov 10, 2017
- 3,250
Apple Could Drop Support for All iPhones Through iPhone 6s with iOS 13
- Thread starter CyberTech
- Start date
iOS 12 should have been iOS 11 and Apple played a gimmick saying We support idevices for 5 yrs. Because of that, Modern iphone sales are low and everyone happy to switch to iPhones with TouchId for lower price.
- Jun 6, 2017
- 471
If I were to buy a phone from an Apple store, then I would expect it to be supported with security updates for at least 5 years. These are sold as premium phones with high prices to match.
If my iPhone SE is effectively made redundant in September when the next iOS is released there is nothing I can do about it. However, it would put me off buying another iPhone at anytime in the future, especially as there are equally good alternatives which are far less expensive. In fact I would feel cheated.
And this is a company that wants to charge me £1000 UK pounds for a telephone that does 95% of what a mid range Android can do at a quarter of the price.
No thanks!
If my iPhone SE is effectively made redundant in September when the next iOS is released there is nothing I can do about it. However, it would put me off buying another iPhone at anytime in the future, especially as there are equally good alternatives which are far less expensive. In fact I would feel cheated.
And this is a company that wants to charge me £1000 UK pounds for a telephone that does 95% of what a mid range Android can do at a quarter of the price.
No thanks!
The iPhone SE is not "premium" at all...
The iPhone SE was £359 when it released, not £1000...
Not sure what switching to Android will do either. Apple supports older iPhone models far better than most Android OEMs. More than 80% of iPhones are on iOS 12 or higher while only about 35% of Androids are on Android 8.0 or higher. That means almost 70% of Androids are running software that was released in 2016...
Edit:
The iPhone SE released in 2016 and is still getting iOS 13 in 2019. For comparison, we'll use the Google Pixel which launched the very same year. The Google Pixel received its last Android update in October of 2018 and will receive security updates up until October of 2019. This is exactly on par with Apple. Looking at the Pixel 3 XL, which just released in November of last year; it is only guaranteed updates for 3 years...
This example is also being way to nice. Other Android OEMs are a joke when it comes to supporting their older phones. Especially when it involves U.S. cellular carriers. That is another story on its own.
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Pixel is sold only in few countries whereas Apple sells devices worldwide with higher price + Taxes + Import duty than most android phones charge for their phone. If we compare Android OS install base on Pixel only, they are already on Oreo/Pie.
I've always wondered why Apple had such a wide LTS on their versioning.. It really does hold them back.
I don't like or use any Apple products, but I always felt they would be better served by progressing versioning to newer hardware rather than supporting ancient devices.
My Android method is simple.. I buy Samsung Phones, use them until they won't upgrade anymore. For example I currently have Galaxy s7 Edge, which are all on Android 8 but that's the end of the road for the s7, no Pie. So I will be purchasing the s8's refurbs in a couple months when they hit $199 and have Pie installed on them and trading in my s7 Edge Refurbs for $100 credit at Amazon. 2-3 years later when the LTS runs out on those I will move on from them. This allows me to avoid huge charges on phones while still having good, relevant, updated, usable technology for only $99 expense every 2-3 years.
It's one of my ways to fight this;
I don't like or use any Apple products, but I always felt they would be better served by progressing versioning to newer hardware rather than supporting ancient devices.
My Android method is simple.. I buy Samsung Phones, use them until they won't upgrade anymore. For example I currently have Galaxy s7 Edge, which are all on Android 8 but that's the end of the road for the s7, no Pie. So I will be purchasing the s8's refurbs in a couple months when they hit $199 and have Pie installed on them and trading in my s7 Edge Refurbs for $100 credit at Amazon. 2-3 years later when the LTS runs out on those I will move on from them. This allows me to avoid huge charges on phones while still having good, relevant, updated, usable technology for only $99 expense every 2-3 years.
It's one of my ways to fight this;
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Since Apple makes iphones and SW, I think they must support 7 years with 2 years being security updates being backported to older device to ensure security w/o leaving it in the dust.
Your method of buying phones is wise. Every 2 years you're getting new phone at lowest price with same features.
Have you tried AOSP Pie for S7. Stock android will make you feel Touchwiz is laggy and bloatware. I haven't tried ONE UI.
- Jan 8, 2011
- 22,361
If you support an older device for too long, you're pulling a Microsoft and you end up with a large userbase that won't upgrade (ie. XP and 7 users).
Hardware limitations may prevent new firmware updates
It's just a waste of company resources.
IMO, 4 to 5 years of support is quite reasonable.
However, 1 to 2 years is too little. ---> Google Android.
I did state 2 years of additional security only updates which must be backported to older release OR as an out of band release to give that sense of security.
With Google Pixel they give you 3 years of OS update w/ monthly security patches. Then again, there are lot of android phone makers part of Android one program who claim to support for 2 years which cost only half unlike iphone.
Again, there's a flip side where monthly update introduce regressions and unknown bugs.
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