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

[Lounge vibes 05]

It’s the same old tired trick I have seen play out in places like TheVerge. For one, there likely aren’t that many people still using the iPhone 6s or 7, yet the article tries to make it sound like a significant portion of Apple’s user base is revolting.

These devices have been supported for way longer than they have any right to be, and still people want to complain.

Now we have people grasping at straws and arguing that the iPhone naming scheme is too complex. All to avoid admitting that they are simply making a mountain out of a molehill.

It’s just much ado over nothing.

Exactly.
If customers are truly this stupid, and can’t figure out that iPhone 8 is/was better than iPhone 7, then they’re gonna have absolutely no idea what iOS 16.Whatever even is or why they can’t get it.
They just won’t care.
All of their applications are not just going to completely stop working the day that iOS 16 is released.
Now someday, years from now, when iOS 15 is on less than 5% or so of Devices, will developers stop releasing updates for it? Maybe, possibly. But even to this day the majority of developers still support iOS 12, some still support iOS 11, I mean the latest version of TikTok still is supported on iOS 10.
Developers will not start dropping support this fall.
This time next year most developers won’t have dropped support.
Two years from now most developers will still support iOS 15.
iPhone 7 customers will still have years before they notice any actual issues.
Apple Will still provide security updates, and everything on their phone is going to work just fine, just like it does now.

 

[Eorlas]

if you'd care to read my signature. I'm just stating the facts as I see them. Seems pretty obvious to me that at least the 7+ would have no problem hosting iOS16.

no one cares to read a signature except the person who wrote it, this isn't 2007 and AIM isn't in vogue anymore. time to catch up.

the second part was addressed, reread if it was difficult to understand.

farewell

 

[webkit]

They did the exact same thing with the 5s and the 6, with people being amazed that the 5s was getting 6 years of software updates, then Apple turned around and didn't support either the 5s or the 6/6+ with iOS 13, which meant the iPhone 6/6+ only received 5 years of software updates despite the 5s getting 6 years. Apple provides no guarantees on how long devices will receive software updates, but it's still known that they provide software updates for longer than any Android manufacturers.

True but I think it would be nice for Apple to put an OS update guarantee in writing like other companies, at least to better manage customer expectations. The fact that Apple provides mobile OS updates longer than others (at this point) still doesn't mean people can't/shouldn't be disappointed if it's not as long as they were expecting. If someone's iOS expectation was 7 years from launch date and it only turned out to be 6, it doesn't really matter that Androids may only be 3 or 4. They didn't buy an Android.

An issue may be that Apple is hesitant to put something conservative (like 5 years) in writing as they fear that Google, Samsung and/or other companies may match it and Apple would lose its "longer support than anyone" reputation.

 

[Realityck]

True but I think it would be nice for Apple to put an OS update guarantee in writing like other companies, at least to better manage customer expectations.

What company supplies a OS update guarantee? I don't recall ever seeing any company make promises on how long they furnish FW or software updates. The assumption is they will do it for awhile. Some of Apple products like Mac Laptops have been supported for multiple years, but with all the trade in, get free iPhones with new contract from wireless providers its more likely that most would have exchanged a iPhone before some app stops working because your iPhone has been cut from the next major release in the Fall.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

and if that 6 year old phone is still a fully functioning 6 year old phone then the manufacturer should still support it. if a company stops providing software/driver support for their electronic devices which will prevent the device from being able to fully function then that manufacturer should be forced to accept the ewaste of that device.

There are millions upon millions of iphone 7's in the world that will now end up as a glorified ipod. Owners will be trashing their iphone 7's into bins whilst Apple will be washing their hands of it saying 'no longer our problem'.

You are either joking or wildly misinformed.
Come this fall, people using the iPhone 7 will:
Still have activated SIM cards.
Still have full iOS 15 functionality, including cellular service.
Still have third-party application support from the majority of developers.
Still have support for networks from the carriers.
Still have hardware support from Apple, including battery replacements.
Still have security updates from Apple. iOS 12 was replaced over three years ago, and yet it still gets the occasional security update.
Apple is even working on new versions of iOS 15 as we speak. 15.6 is in beta right now, and there will most certainly be more updates to 15 to come.
Glorified iPods these iPhone 7‘s will not be

 

[Realityck]

Apple is even working on new versions of iOS 15 as we speak. 15.6 is in beta right now, and there will most certainly be more updates to 15 to come.
Glorified iPods these iPhone 7‘s will not be

IMHO I think we will see at least a 15.7, 15.8 before Fall.

 

[jav6454]

And as several people already noted, something like the lock screen updates are not easy to simply *remove* for certain devices.
Disableling small app by app features, like the stuff that’s restricted to the A12 in Maps, isnt a big deal.
Completely changing how a fundamental area of the system works, like the lock screen or the Home Screen, isn’t that simple, and has plenty of possibility of complications arising.
Apple would have to maintain two completely separate versions of the operating system, one with the new lock screen and one with the old Lock Screen. And if something breaks on the one with the old lock screen then it can’t just be fixed on its own.
It would just create plenty of complications, and it would really only affect one model of iPhone. It’s a lot easier just to cut support for that one. So that’s exactly what they did.
Now they could have delayed the lock screen features until next year, but clearly they didn’t want to do that.

Wrong, Apple has done feature removal for years now in previous iPhone iterations where hardware wasn't up to spec, this is not "hard".

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Wrong, Apple has done feature removal for years now in previous iPhone iterations where hardware wasn't up to spec, this is not "hard".

Give me one example of Apple adding something to the lock screen or home screen that was available on newer devices but not older ones.
Again, only the lock screen or home screen, not individual application features.
The *only* example I can think of is the iPhone 3G not getting homescreen wallpapers in iOS 4, and that was… A disaster. The iPhone 3G was absolutely crippled by iOS 4.
It was so bad that it didn’t even get the full way through, the iPhone 3G got stuck on 4.2.1, despite there being a 4.3 afterwards.
Every other major update to the lock screen or home screen has came to all of the devices at the same time.
Home screen customization came to all of the devices at the same time, folders came to all of the devices at the same time, lock screen notifications came to all of the devices at the same time, the camera shortcut on the home screen came to all the devices at the same time, the click to unlock came to all of the devices at the same time, dark mode came to all the devices at the same time, home screen widgets came to all the devices at the same time, and now the new lock screen comes to all the devices at the same time.
The lock screen and home screen are clearly areas of the OS that Apple does not like to diversify between devices, mainly because of how fundamental they are to the actual operating system itself.
Again updates to the Photos app, the maps app, Messages app, whatever can easily be diversified between devices. Some features new phones get that old phones don’t, etc. But they’ve never done that with the lock screen or home screen, at least within the past decade.
And clearly they are not starting now.

 

[turbineseaplane]

What company supplies a OS update guarantee?

Irrelevant here
We hold Apple to higher and different standards

It's a key reason we all love Apple so much -- we expect, and usually get, "more"

 

[turbineseaplane]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1534957922458947598

A good example, in practice, of how Apple is already doing software differentiation within a given platform and its device line up.

They absolutely could be doing the same thing with iOS and iPhones

(newer/older and feature segmentation based upon capability and practicality is exactly what they are doing on iPadOS)

 

[webkit]

What company supplies a OS update guarantee? I don't recall ever seeing any company make promises on how long they furnish FW or software updates.

Google is one example. They guarantee updates on their various Pixel models e.g., on the 6 and 6 Pro, they guarantee Android version updates until at least October 2024 and security updates until at least October 2026.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Related to my post #736

Check the footnotes here..

OS - iOS 26

iOS 26 for iPhone with a new design, more helpful Apple Intelligence, polls and backgrounds in Messages, and features that make every day effortless.

www.apple.com

There are a good 7+ different notes/caveats/clarifications about capabilities and restrictions depending upon specific device.

The claims of inability to cater to older/lesser devices are inaccurate and fly directly in the face of what Apple is actually already doing across both iPad and iPhone lines.

tldr

They just don't want to support certain devices anymore and prefer people upgrade again. That's fine I suppose, but let's call a spade a spade and not pretend there really are other reasons. At some point, Apple just wants everyone to buy new hardware again, even if your existing hardware is still quite capable.

 

[Realityck]

Google is one example. They guarantee updates on their various Pixel models e.g., on the 6 and 6 Pro, they guarantee Android version updates until at least October 2024 and security updates until at least October 2026.

Ok but since Apple surpasses that guaranteed support it can't be thought as a negative that Apple doesn't have a guarantee in writing. Like this example with the iPhone 7 released Sept 2016 losing the next major OS update come Sept 2022.

 

[bushman4]

Apple dropping support for iPhone 7 as iOS 16 is to intense for the internals and not capable of handling it. Also battery life wasn’t great in the iPhone 7 and iOS is Too demanding. Most likely that’s the reason

 

[turbineseaplane]

Apple dropping support for iPhone 7 as iOS 16 is to intense for the internals and not capable of handling it.

We have no evidence to that effect, and we have exceptionally similar hardware capabilities still supported by 16 (on iPad).

Additionally, they are already segmenting what features come to which devices, on both iPhone and iPad.
They very easily could do that here and still support the A9+ devices

 

[laptech]

You are either joking or wildly misinformed.
Come this fall, people using the iPhone 7 will:
Still have activated SIM cards.
Still have full iOS 15 functionality, including cellular service.
Still have third-party application support from the majority of developers.
Still have support for networks from the carriers.
Still have hardware support from Apple, including battery replacements.
Still have security updates from Apple. iOS 12 was replaced over three years ago, and yet it still gets the occasional security update.
Apple is even working on new versions of iOS 15 as we speak. 15.6 is in beta right now, and there will most certainly be more updates to 15 to come.
Glorified iPods these iPhone 7‘s will not be

An interesting post. Makes me wonder why the person who wrote the article did not include this kind of information in the article because if they had done so it would have surely changed the mindset of many people making posts in here.

 

[vertsix]

I'm astonished everyone seems to be ignoring Apple's true intentions here. This is not about performance or specifications - as that has been disproven in this article. You have to put yourself in the position of the normal, average user. Apple's playing a psychosocial game.

The average iPhone user uses iMessage. Whenever they realize they can't edit messages or take advantage of the new features added to iMessage on iOS 16 (which their devices could easily support if Apple's intentions were any different), they'll get socially pushed to upgrade to a new phone.

Additionally, the lock screen is the first thing you see on a phone. Whenever users with a 6s or 7 see that they can't edit their lock screen, they'll be impulsed to buy a new phone.

This is what Apple wants. They are very smart.

They've also done this before - with emojis.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Having support for older devices is definitely a luxury that was included in the Apple price tag. Sucks because I have a iPhone 7 I was going to “upgrade” my childs old iPhone se with but now I’m “forced” to upgrade.

 

[lartola]

And who / why or what is forcing me or the User to Upgrade the Phone ? I just dont understand ? Please explain. It is YOU (the User) who want to upgrade to a Newer system ... is Apple that is forcing the User to Upgrade ? No it sure isnt. But sill a read in every third post that Apple is forcing to upgrade the Phone.

I think push to update is the correct phrase there rather than force. Nobody forces anyone to upgrade their phone, but Apple certainly does A LOT to push people to upgrade phones sooner.

 

[Apple$]

An interesting post. Makes me wonder why the person who wrote the article did not include this kind of information in the article because if they had done so it would have surely changed the mindset of many people making posts in here.

They want to maximize clicks and ad revenue, it's clearly working as this article still has interest and over 740 comments.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I think push to update is the correct phrase there rather than force. Nobody forces anyone to upgrade their phone, but Apple certainly does A LOT to push people to upgrade phones sooner.

Absolutely true

A few weeks ago when I had the Apple Store do a new battery on one of my OGSE fleet members the upgrade pushing/questioning came out during check in for my appointment.

I had to, in several ways, convey the point of: "no, I don't want any of the newer/larger phones and I wish Apple would make something actually small again, thank you very much"

By the end of it, I think he kind of wished he hadn't bothered trying to get me to "upgrade" - lol

It was quite clearly something they are coached on and encouraged (perhaps even required?) to do.
Made for a pretty crummy in-store visit experience honestly.

If someone comes in with a specific appointment and knows just want they want, leave them alone and please just provide the service being paid for.

 

[iHorseHead]

Having support for older devices is definitely a luxury that was included in the Apple price tag. Sucks because I have a iPhone 7 I was going to “upgrade” my childs old iPhone se with but now I’m “forced” to upgrade.

I can still use iPhone 5s on iOS 12.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I can still use iPhone 5s on iOS 12.

I can still use iPhone 5 on iOS 10

I’m not sure what point we are both making, though, other than old phones still sort of work on old abandoned software

 

[Apple$]

I can still use iPhone 5 on iOS 10

I still have a iPod Touch 5th gen with iOS 9.3

 

[webkit]

Ok but since Apple surpasses that guaranteed support it can't be thought as a negative that Apple doesn't have a guarantee in writing. Like this example with the iPhone 7 released Sept 2016 losing the next major OS update come Sept 2022.

My issue is not that Apple still isn't better as far as providing OS updates longer but rather that it may not be as good as some expected. Apple is vague (doesn't put anything in writing) about how many years of iOS updates there will be and this can potentially create a backlash like the one being seen now. If a customer expected 7 years but is only getting 6, that can be a disappointment. It doesn't matter that Android may only be 3 or 4 years as they didn't buy an Android. To put it another way, if a customer felt Apple is "A" level and Android is "C" level but they only received "B" level from Apple, it doesn’t matter that "B" is better than "C" as it's still worse than the "A" they were expecting for the money.