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

[turbineseaplane]

Did I miss something, when iOS 16 comes out do all iOS15 iPhones just stop working?

It starts the clock on losing software support.
Server involved third party apps (and things like banking apps) tend to be the first to go

 

[jav6454]

Actually, the norm is only to get three to four major updates post release, and the iPhone 7 got 5. The iPhone 6s actually managed to get 6, which meant it had the longest supported life of any iPhone.

There is no norm. It is based on how each CPU released handles it within a certain performance criteria.

 

[darngooddesign]

Not entirely true. People aren’t stupid. Look, no one is compaining about the iphone 6s not getting iOS 16. Just about the iphone 7 because Apple did it a tad too early; if they gave a good explanation it might even kill the backlash.

Apple did it when the hardware couldn't support the OS feature.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Maybe Apple should start unbundling built-in apps' updates from OS updates.

They absoLUTELY should

Frankly, they need to get off an annual iOS release cadence
It's completely unnecessary and just keeps resetting the "bugs to fix" clock every Fall also.

 

[R3k]

Spoken like a true Apple executive! Why? If the phone still works, and is capable, why should anyone be forced to upgrade? Not everyone needs the greatest and latest.

By that Logic, why would 7 owners need to upgrade iOS? Their current OS is still capable.

 

[lartola]

For the millionth time in this thread, no one is obsoleting anything. The phone will still run iOS 15 with no issue for the foreseeable future. It will probably get security updates as well.

Some developers will start to support only iOS 16 for their apps as soon as it comes out in september, which is the foreseeable future. That does obsolete a device not getting that update.

 

[CapitalIdea]

Why in the world should Apple cater to people who are their least committed customers? It's not worth it to support people who are so legacy that they wait 7 years for a new phone. Enjoy iOS 15 and the security updates it gets, but the ship sailed. Life goes on without widgets, and has all these years.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Some developers will start to support only iOS 16 for their apps as soon as it comes out in september, which is the foreseeable future. That does obsolete a device not getting that update.

People don't seem to get this, but you are absolutely correct

 

[lartola]

By that Logic, why would 7 owners need to upgrade iOS? Their current OS is still capable.

He meant why force iphone 7 owners to upgrade their hardware by discontinuing software updates on that still very capable model.

 

[jav6454]

There is an incorrect perception that cut off is done by number of years, when in reality its due to whether the iPhone has the correct hardware to support OS features, and the 7 doesn't have the Neural Engine processor required to support 16's lock screen changes. Should Apple intentionally gimp their OS just to support a six year old phone?

That is correct and using your own logic, iOS 16 is supported by the iPhone 7. Perhaps not all features as there have been released for past iPhones where certain features didn't make it to older models due to hardware limitations.

 

[I7guy]

They absoLUTELY should

Frankly, they need to get off an annual iOS release cadence
It's completely unnecessary and just keeps resetting the "bugs to fix" clock every Fall also.

Who said the annual ios release is unneccesary? Is that in your humble opinion? IOS 16 does sound like the start of the ios components being upgraded at various times in smaller bundles. That's a move that should benefit everybody.

 

[R3k]

He meant why force iphone 7 owners to upgrade their hardware by discontinuing software updates on that still very capable model.

and I mean they're not forced too.

 

[I7guy]

He meant why force iphone 7 owners to upgrade their hardware by discontinuing software updates on that still very capable model.

Yes the iphone 7 is a very capable phone to run an operating system without ai or ml. As ai and ml get baked into more of the operating system, the iphone 7 might not really function well on ios 16, but apple I think should fork the operating system.

 

[Andres Cantu]

How about just "don't offer that" on the devices that can't do it?

I personally don't give a single toss about some silly "intelligent blurred background"... the amount of time they even spent talking about that shows me how very very very little they even had to offer this year.

That's a horrendous reason to knock out a whole set of otherwise totally usable devices

Which is why they will never explain their reasons for dropping support.

 

[Student of Life]

People don't seem to get this, but you are absolutely correct

But then the issue is with the App developer not Apple.

Again its been 6 years, half a decade of support when the competition give 1 to 2 years of support. It's been a good run but it's time to move on.

 

[Bobbuilds69]

It's actually a 2.5 year old iPhone - meaning, it was sold as new by Apple until September 10, 2019.

No one forced those ppl to by a 2016 phone in 2019…

 

[kc9hzn]

How about just "don't offer that" on the devices that can't do it?

I personally don't give a single toss about some silly "intelligent blurred background"... the amount of time they even spent talking about that shows me how very very very little they even had to offer this year.

That's a horrendous reason to knock out a whole set of otherwise totally usable devices

There’s always a lot of work involved in “don’t offer that” that I think people miss. There’s always the possibility of bugs popping up on one configuration than on others. Bugs that only pop up when X feature is present but Y feature is absent. It’s not a matter of “keep X the same but change Y”, X may have a dependency on Y (or Y on X). Even with as modular as code tends to be today, you can still get conflicts that end up consuming testing cycles.

And are you really suggesting that companies shouldn’t put out new software features just because your phone can’t run them or you personally don’t like them? (And I’d suggest you’ve missed the point of the lock screen changes. There are the “complications”, the notification changes, the depth [ie the ability to prevent the time from covering up that picture of your loved one you’ve set as a background picture].)

 

[JosephAW]

When I went from there 7 to an 8 bionic the speed difference was dramatic. I can see why they dropped it.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Which is why they will never explain their reasons for dropping support.

Super frustrating

 

[turbineseaplane]

There’s always a lot of work involved in “don’t offer that” that I think people miss.

Not in this case
You can simply leave something like lock screen stuff "out"

 

[kc9hzn]

There is no norm. It is based on how each CPU released handles it within a certain performance criteria.

Well yes, of course, but you can always slice and dice data about it to give an estimated lifespan of new hardware based on historic data, and the average or the mean based on historic data is what I described as “the norm”.

 

[turbineseaplane]

And are you really suggesting that companies shouldn’t put out new software features just because your phone can’t run them?

Yeah, actually
That's not a revelatory concept in software engineering and product design/support

 

[turbineseaplane]

No one forced those ppl to by a 2016 phone in 2019…

The point is that Apple was selling it new just 3 years ago

This is a point being made because folks like to praise Apple for long support cycles.
That point of praise for Apple gets nuked a bit when they flip around and do a cull like this so, relatively, quickly.

Consumers count on "Apple sells it as new" to mean something about it's place in the lineup and longevity.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Again its been 6 years,

Hasn't been if you bought a new one in 2019 from Apple directly (who was selling them new that recently).

 

[I7guy]

Yeah, actually
That's not a revelatory concept in software engineering and product design/support

Many, many, many manufacturers of mass produced products intended for consumer consumption have yearly release cycles or close to yearly. It's how these companies attract new business.