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0 pointswarrenm2y ago0 comments

>(As it is, the device still receives security updates, which I can't really grump at Apple for after almost six years - but only because they're better than the rest of the industry. It's still a poor situation).

I am continually astonished at folks who expect OS and/or security updates past a few years (this is not a slight against you, just an observation on my part)

A lot of folk like to gripe about "planned obsolescence" or similar because eventually their device is no longer supported

Yet the fact that manufacturers support equipment as long as they do is ... kind of astonishing

The higher the volume of production, the shorter you would expect a manufacturer to support it (a 747 is worlds different from a pickup truck which is worlds different from a phone or laptop)

The cost-benefit analysis of continuing to support/update a given device has to be taken into account ... and - for most phones (since that is what we are talking about in this thread) for most people, that means that between 3 and 4 years after release, it makes [nearly] no economic sense to keep supporting them

That Apple does for so long speaks volumes about their commitment to their customers (even though, of course, they would like you to get a new phone every year, I am sure)

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2 comments · 2 top-level

highwaylights2y ago

I guess my view on it is that there's really no reason for the obsolescence.

iOS 17 may not be technically able to run on the A11 chip in the iPhone X, but only on the basis that it's been designed not to do so. Any features that genuinely needed extra neural cores (or whatever limitation there might be) were clearly designed that way with the intention of forcing a new purchase - the software could have in all likelihood run just fine on the A11 if they wanted it to. OCLP kind of proves this on macOS, which should (in theory) be even harder to maintain support for than iOS, as there are many more binary driver blobs that Apple doesn't control the source code for and therefore can't stand over/patch if the original vendor has stopped doing so.

LeafItAlone2y ago

> I am continually astonished at folks who expect OS and/or security updates past a few years

How many is “a few” to you?

Many people finance their phones through carrier deals that last three years. It should at least be supported that long.

And why not expect longer? To an outsider looking in, the software isn’t changing that much. I still have a messaging app, a browser, a camera app - that all basically haven’t changed their core functionality in the time I’ve had my device.

Just like computers, I think there is a correlation between price and expected support. If I’m paying $1,500 for an iPhone 15 Pro, I am doing so with the expectation that in 5 years it will be supported. If I am paying $100 for a cheap Android, my expectations are lower.

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