Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Faces User Backlash After Dropping Support for iPhone 7 From iOS 16

How else do you think Apple is going to force you to upgrade? Either upgrade or hold on to your phone a little longer. Apple held back feautres for my iPhone 6+ that they could have added...but I held onto it for 7 years, anyway. You have a choice.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
iOS Geek said:
This article is also proof that people forgot what happened the last time an iPhone was supported for "too long". If I'm not mistaken, Apple is being actively sued somewhere in the world right now for the 4s and iOS 9...
Click to expand...

Apple settles lawsuit involving iOS 9 update and iPhone 4S devices – Apple World Today

www.appleworld.today www.appleworld.today

Lawsuits could take years before it's settled.

"Apple has agreed to settle a long-lasting six-year class-action lawsuit that accused it of knowingly slowing down iPhone 4S devices following the iOS 9 update in 2015, agreeing to pay some ‌iPhone‌ 4S owners who had experienced poor performance $15 each for their claims, reports MacRumors." May, 2022.

Apparently, it's for poor iOS performance issues, not for support as it was relatively current back then... performance issues which are Still present for many people with the current iOS, though not as bad.
Adding insult to injury, each plaintiff received a mere $15 each, probably after the lawyers took the bulk of the proceeds.
 
  • Like
Reactions: iOS Geek
To be fair, it survived longer than expected. iOS 13 discontinued iPhone 5S and 6. iOS 14 should’ve discontinued iPhone 6S, but didn’t. iOS 15 should’ve discontinued iPhone 6S and 7, but didn’t. In fact, following that pattern, iOS 16 should’ve discontinued iPhone 8/X and still didn’t.

This in a way is proof that Apple is so good at supporting older devices that we’re even spoiled, complaining that they did something that was in fact overdue, almost like a freeloading son that gets angry at his parents for kicking him out of the house because he’s 30 now.

Forgive the tu quoque fallacy here but I don’t see any of them complaining that even current flagship androids only get 3 years of updates guaranteed (which usually doesn’t even mean 3 major versions of Android, just whatever update the manufacturer can sneak in in those 3 years!).

EDIT: I almost forgot: right now they complain that it didn’t get iOS 16, but if it did and it slowed down thE phone, they’d be complaining about “planned obsolescence”. Apple can’t win here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: iOS Geek, BugeyeSTI, Apple$ and 1 other person
Apple is not a non-profit charity organization, it's a FOR-PROFIT organization that strives to generate grow revenue and maximize profits and shareholder value.
 
lartola said:
The iPad doesn’t get the new lock screen features, though. As someone else already pointed out, that might be what makes the difference. All those little widgets on the lock screen might require a bit more processor power, and they won’t be on the iPad. Nonetheless, we know there must be a degree of planned obsolescence in that decision too.
Click to expand...
I love how it’s planned obsolescence when a company drops support for older hardware but it’s also planned obsolescence when a company tries to avoid dropping support for hardware and even potentially holds back software to prevent obsoleting older hardware. That’s how you can tell the argument is planned obsolescence and the facts have to be manipulated to support the argument.

It’s just that the arguments for the existence of planned obsolescence remind me so much of the sorts of conspiracy theories I saw back when I used Twitter. Evidence that could be used against it gets mangled to support it in some way, and any grain of truth gets wildly exaggerated, “see, my theory is true because this patently obvious thing is true” even if they aren’t connected. It doesn’t help that most of these sorts of ideas often have two layers, there’s the straightforward “okay, I can see how you’d use that term to describe this phenomenon” and then there’s the point where people go off the deep end and ascribe everything they like or dislike about the subject to that term, stretching the definition of the term past the point of breaking.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MNGR
They do this every year, people are now surprised it caught up to them? At least they’re not loosing support. Apple has released security updates for very old devices. There are many other devices from other brands that get 3 years max, if they don’t outright stop supporting that device all together.

Also those would be the same people to complain about poor battery life, and slow performance once updating their device. They can continue to use their iPhone 7, and enjoy the same and more features they have had since the release of the phone, nothing has changed for them.
 
chrono1081 said:
And there’s the second childish personal attack from you. You’re wrong, I do both front and back end and it’s clear to me you don’t know much about iOS development since you don’t seem to grasp how views that are already present when you serious up can be rearranged to how stage a manger arranges them.

Yes there is a little more work than just translating views but it’s nothing any current iPad can handle.
Click to expand...
Do the A series chips support virtual memory? It’s very clear to me that Stage Manager is depending on virtual memory support (or at the very least, it would run in a very degraded form without it), and the A series chips might not have adequate support for it. And why should they? The iPad never used virtual memory before it happened to share a processor with an operating system that’s been using virtual memory for longer than either your or I have been developers [NeXTStep, which became Mac OS X].

Edit: For what it’s worth, I have no evidence that the A12Z chip supports or doesn’t support virtual memory in the developer transition kit (it would make sense to do so for memory intensive applications, sure, but there’s no evidence either way that I can find) and I have no evidence that the A12Z in the developer transition kit is the same A12Z as in the iPad Pro 4th gen, or that some part in the A12Zs used for the consumer releases didn’t have a part binned.
 
Last edited:
boak said:
This argument does not even make sense. Logical and reasonable explanation is the only explanation? LMAO
Click to expand...

Correct. And yet many of the commenters here—yourself included—are providing illogical and unreasonable explanations.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: boak
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗 said:
I’m praying Apple reverses its decision and plans to support the iPhone 7 / 7 Plus. I don’t think it’s that outdated yet.

However, the bottom line is Apple wants you to upgrade.
Click to expand...
I am praying they reverse course too. And yeah, considering they have the footprint of what models iPhone users are still holding on to, they want that pack to upgrade.

I have an iPhone 7, and lol, I’ve been thinking of upgrading since iOS 16 beta was announced. See, their plan is working. Or,… thinking I can start a petition or something. Lol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: brucemr
But then they would throttle and half the users would read about it on a website and cry about forced obsolesce. This way no lawsuits. Just the same people crying online.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BugeyeSTI
The big thing is security updates, bug fixes and basic app support. There’s no guarantee of any of that going forward. I wish Apple was just transparent about updates, Microsoft for all their faults does this. I know when support will end for Windows 10, I know what that means for end users.

I wish we’d stop worshipping a big multitrillion dollar business. There’s nothing wrong with being a fan, I am as well, but defending the crap out of a company that only cares about infinite growth is pointless.

The economy is a mess, cost of living, food, fuel has skyrocketed and now we have to worry that our phone might start having unpatched security vulnerabilities doesn’t help. The device which has our personal information and financial information. Maybe this is one reason why this digital world of ours is flawed. Someone doesn’t need to worry about software security vulnerabilities in a folder of docs in a drawer or a paper checkbook. Maybe we need to give less control of our lives to Apple or any big tech company. Otherwise we’ll be spending the rest of our lives upgrading at their whim.

I personally have a IPhone 7 as a backup and I have loved ones who also do. I purchase and update their devices so now I’m wondering if I need to buy a new one and which one. I also have an intel 2017 MacBook Pro and it seems that support will drop for it soon. I know on Macs Apple has a track record of keeping the last 2 OS’s updated, but it’s an unwritten policy. So there’s always a concern about that. These devices work fine, I just want them to be secure.

With the state of the world as it is, I don’t feel comfortable with spending hundreds on new devices. Especially from a company that eschews environmentalism. The first R in the 3Rs is to Reuse not immediately recycle.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lartola
Sir_Macs_A_Lot said:
How else do you think Apple is going to force you to upgrade? Either upgrade or hold on to your phone a little longer. Apple held back feautres for my iPhone 6+ that they could have added...but I held onto it for 7 years, anyway. You have a choice.
Click to expand...

do you have inside knowledge that they could have added features to your 6+ or is it just conjecture?
 
  • Like
Reactions: kc9hzn
mnsportsgeek said:
I have zero sympathy for people complaining about 6 year old phone not getting an update. The 5th, 6th, and 7th gen ipad are all newer.
Click to expand...

Never mind when the devices went on sale. The ‘newer’ 5th and 6th gen ipads that are still getting the update actually have the exact same processor and RAM as the iphones that are not getting the update. Other than planned obsolescence, the only possible explanation to that discrimination between devices with the same capabilities could be that iPads aren’t getting the lock screen improvements.
 
In the time iPhone 7 came out, I (in order):

- Bought an iPhone 7
- Obtained a visa to move to the United States
- Sold my old car
- Moved to the USA
- Got married
- Obtained a green card
- Got a job
- Bought a car on a loan
- Got promoted
- Paid off said car
- Got promoted again
- Became a US citizen
- Bought a house
- Got promoted yet again

The iPhone 7 has been out for a while, yeah. I’ve also upgraded my phone several times in that timeline, currently on an iPhone 13 Pro Max.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Student of Life, brucemr and kc9hzn
ricketysquire said:
The big thing is security updates, bug fixes and basic app support. There’s no guarantee of any of that going forward. I wish Apple was just transparent about updates, Microsoft for all their faults does this. I know when support will end for Windows 10, I know what that means for end users.

I wish we’d stop worshipping a big multitrillion dollar business. There’s nothing wrong with being a fan, I am as well, but defending the crap out of a company that only cares about infinite growth is pointless.

The economy is a mess, cost of living, food, fuel has skyrocketed and now we have to worry that our phone might start having unpatched security vulnerabilities doesn’t help. The device which has our personal information and financial information. Maybe this is one reason why this digital world of ours is flawed. Someone doesn’t need to worry about software security vulnerabilities in a folder of docs in a drawer or a paper checkbook. Maybe we need to give less control of our lives to Apple or any big tech company. Otherwise we’ll be spending the rest of our lives upgrading at their whim.

I personally have a IPhone 7 as a backup and I have loved ones who also do. I purchase and update their devices so now I’m wondering if I need to buy a new one and which one. I also have an intel 2017 MacBook Pro and it seems that support will drop for it soon. I know on Macs Apple has a track record of keeping the last 2 OS’s updated, but it’s an unwritten policy. So there’s always a concern about that. These devices work fine, I just want them to be secure.

With the state of the world as it is, I don’t feel comfortable with spending hundreds on new devices. Especially from a company that eschews environmentalism. The first R in the 3Rs is to Reuse not immediately recycle.
Click to expand...
I'm sure you'll be fine, just keep your old devices if you don't want to upgrade. Just don't be careless with your security and you'll be okay. It's not the end of the world.
 
The crazy thing is I seem to remember Costco Canada was still selling the iPhone 6s 2 years ago. 😳
 
lartola said:
Never mind when the devices went on sale. The ‘newer’ 5th and 6th gen ipads that are still getting the update actually have the exact same processor and RAM as the iphones that are not getting the update. Other than planned obsolescence, the only possible explanation to that discrimination between devices with the same capabilities could be that iPads aren’t getting the lock screen improvements.
Click to expand...

two different OS's two different sets of requirements.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mnsportsgeek
schuhlelewis said:
Android isn’t exactly a high bar comparison. If Apple actually cares about sustainability they should be supporting older hardware.
Click to expand...
The older phones will still work fine. I had a 4S long after Apple was providing it with the latest operating system and it was still great.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back