This. I'm not blindly defending Apple here, but when whiney folks complain (to the point of suing) that their devices were 'broken' by an update, this is a predictable outcome.
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Apple Faces User Backlash After Dropping Support for iPhone 7 From iOS 16
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Sure. Some people would whine they didn’t get 2 fifty Euro notes when given a 100 Euro note.
At some point people need to get over it.
And car manufacturers do that all the time with changes during a model year and features can depend on build date.
The iPhone 7 was sold at a discount in 2019 because it was a three year old phone in 2019, and the iPhone 7 is a six year old phone now. So figure three years from now until your then nine year old phone stops receiving new versions of apps, and figure six years from now until your then twelve year old phone can't access that apps' features. I guarantee that you are not going to be actively using a twelve year old iPhone so your complaint is theoretical.
You could have easily upgraded the iPhone 7 free, or minimal cost, when you consider trade-in and cost of battery replacements.
Pre-A12 devices missed out on these types of features in iOS15 nevermind iOS16 but still got the update. If they can disable features like these on the iPhone 8/X why can't they disable another (fancy lock screens) on the iPhone 7?
Plenty of people must be doing it because Apple always sells the 2 year old model (currently the iPhone 11) - if noone was buying them Apple, would stop.
The S models always seem to get an extra year of support.
My cynical feeling is that Apple sees the recession/inflation spiral coming which will bring lower sales and knows that if it drops a lot of devices from OS support a certain percentage of owners will upgrade who wouldn't have bothered if OS support continued.
For what it’s worth, it’s probably worth the time to discuss what subset of what in Apple’s tech stack supports what.
macOS and iOS: different everything, but with a high degree of commonality. The kernel is closely related (possibly even identifiable as largely the same thing, like Linux and MCLinux), and the userland definitely maintains some degree of relationship. This likely holds true even on Apple Silicon based Macs. macOS could be viewed as cousins, perhaps.
iOS and iPadOS: the closest relatives among Apple’s operating system efforts. They have a lot in common, but the iPad software isn’t “iOS plus iPad features”, the iPad quite often is lacking in iOS features in addition to having its own set of features. They could be viewed as fraternal twins, possibly as identical twins with different physical characteristics (like weight and hairstyle or fashion sense) [but I hesitate to call them identical twins because that could imply having the same code through and through, though they are more closely related than just siblings]. iPadOS does tend to tack close to iOS, but it’s more than possible for them to support different hardware if the code restricting hardware support is outside of the common subset of software they have in common.
iOS and tvOS: have similar kernels (with tvOS seemingly having forked the iOS kernel at some point, likely to maintain support for older A series chips). Userlands are quite similar but tvOS definitely has its own things that don’t have any analog to things in iOS. Could be considered siblings.
iOS and watchOS: watchOS is certainly derived from iOS, its kernel and userland are probably forks from iOS’s and the hardware it supports is dramatically different (static RAM over DRAM, no high performance CPU cores [both CPU cores are high efficiency], that sort of thing). (Though Wikipedia notes that the HomePod mini uses an S5 SoC, and the HomePod/HomePod mini uses a version of tvOS, so the kernels may not be that different.) Siblings, maybe half siblings.
TL;DR: Basically all of Apple’s current operating systems could justifiably be considered different things, even if they’ve got more in common than, say, Windows CE and Windows NT. This even extends to iOS and iPadOS, even if they have the most in common out of all five. There’s a lot more to them than just the kernel and the common set of code shared by both userlands.
macOS and iOS: different everything, but with a high degree of commonality. The kernel is closely related (possibly even identifiable as largely the same thing, like Linux and MCLinux), and the userland definitely maintains some degree of relationship. This likely holds true even on Apple Silicon based Macs. macOS could be viewed as cousins, perhaps.
iOS and iPadOS: the closest relatives among Apple’s operating system efforts. They have a lot in common, but the iPad software isn’t “iOS plus iPad features”, the iPad quite often is lacking in iOS features in addition to having its own set of features. They could be viewed as fraternal twins, possibly as identical twins with different physical characteristics (like weight and hairstyle or fashion sense) [but I hesitate to call them identical twins because that could imply having the same code through and through, though they are more closely related than just siblings]. iPadOS does tend to tack close to iOS, but it’s more than possible for them to support different hardware if the code restricting hardware support is outside of the common subset of software they have in common.
iOS and tvOS: have similar kernels (with tvOS seemingly having forked the iOS kernel at some point, likely to maintain support for older A series chips). Userlands are quite similar but tvOS definitely has its own things that don’t have any analog to things in iOS. Could be considered siblings.
iOS and watchOS: watchOS is certainly derived from iOS, its kernel and userland are probably forks from iOS’s and the hardware it supports is dramatically different (static RAM over DRAM, no high performance CPU cores [both CPU cores are high efficiency], that sort of thing). (Though Wikipedia notes that the HomePod mini uses an S5 SoC, and the HomePod/HomePod mini uses a version of tvOS, so the kernels may not be that different.) Siblings, maybe half siblings.
TL;DR: Basically all of Apple’s current operating systems could justifiably be considered different things, even if they’ve got more in common than, say, Windows CE and Windows NT. This even extends to iOS and iPadOS, even if they have the most in common out of all five. There’s a lot more to them than just the kernel and the common set of code shared by both userlands.
My parents have the SE and 6S+. I was expecting this and I am not upset. I am quite pleased Apple supported them for so long. This year looks more and more like a purge with the iPhones and Macs that are being left behind.
What I don't understand is where is the e-waste gang from the usb-c port switch? They vilify the EU for destroying the world and now, crickets. Come out, come out wherever you are!
What I don't understand is where is the e-waste gang from the usb-c port switch? They vilify the EU for destroying the world and now, crickets. Come out, come out wherever you are!
Exactly, which is why the majority of consumers on the iPhone 7 will *still* stick with their iPhone 7, which will *still* get security updates, and will *still* work with the majority of their applications just fine for years to come.
iPhone 7 has 2GB. iPhone 7 Plus has 3GB. But yes, iPad 5 getting iPadOS 16 is quite the surprise here.
I think it’ll still get security updates though. My guess is that iOS 15 will continue to get security updates for 2 extra years on devices unsupported by iOS 16, just like the iPhone 5S and 6 got iOS 12 security updates.
Surprise surprise, Apple is in it to make money and only money so they have some arbitrary cut off date when they stop supporting. As mentioned numerous times they could release iOS 16 for an iPhone 7, l limit the features for those things that are supposedly too much for the iPhone 7 to handle. They do with with MacOS and everything they do. I have a maxed out 5K iMac that does not support Monterey, but a Mac Mini from the same year can run Monterey. Weird how that works huh?
The number of M1 iPads in customers hands is dwarfed by the number of A-series iPads. Of course it makes sense to fork iPadOS when there will be a time in the future where M-series iPads outnumbers A-series.
Phones without Neural engines are the minority. Forking an iOS for obsolete chips would be again, horrible business practice.
Prolly because they are using the neural engine a lot more and the 8 has one
Yeah, we’re the “cult” by using facts and logic but your completely uninformed and ad hominem opinion is totally legit. 🙄
On the off chance that you care about reality, the only A10 devices getting iOS 16 are iPads. Why? Because iPads aren’t getting any of the processor-intensive Lock Screen features. iPads also generally have more RAM than a comparable iPhone.
Do people just forget the backlash about Apple slowing down the iphone? This is just the repercussion of that! They don't want to handle that again, so this decision was a easy way out y, from a profit perspective and from a playing it safe perspective.
Imho you should. I recently saw an official, marketing approved BMW-ad that showed shots of a laggy, jerky interface.
Imho it's about time that car manufacturers don't lag ten years behind when it comes to their car's user interfaces.
They can put their new lock screen in the darkest place of their bodies. The iPhone 7 is still very modern and capable smartphone. In the past Apple has released iOS updates for older phones eliminating certain non-supported features due to hardware limitations. This change of policy for iOS 16 is absolutely unacceptable and we as customers, should be asking this to be changed.
I don't think the complaining is just about the time length per se. It's also the inconsistency with iPad 5 receiving iPadOS 16.
The iPhone 7 does everything it did when it was first purchased. In fact, it does way more. Dozens or hundreds of new features added completely for free.
Nobody is forced to upgrade their phone just because it didn’t get a new software feature. It still works exactly as it did before.
Nobody is forced to upgrade their phone just because it didn’t get a new software feature. It still works exactly as it did before.
That's how I feel as well. There were so many features that were locked to certain models previously.
Out with the old, in with the new.
Jk 😝
Apple doesn’t want people having a subpar experience. A10 vs. A16 is vastly different.
I’d say that running on the A16 + previous 5 chips is pretty good.
Jk 😝
Apple doesn’t want people having a subpar experience. A10 vs. A16 is vastly different.
I’d say that running on the A16 + previous 5 chips is pretty good.
Or they want to program iOS for only neural level chips and this a good time to pull the bandaid off