Apple Stops Signing iOS 11.4.1 Following iOS 12 Launch, Downgrading No Longer Possible

[Jaytee89]

I know of plenty cases where elders take over a phone and have no need for the latest iCloud stuff or other features. They want a fast iPhone 6 that has the os installed it came with in the first place.

That’s not even justifiable in any case. Being an elder does not exclude you from the progression of technology. Apple did not force anyone to update their phones. Sure, the little number one button in settings is a small annoyance, but you didn’t have to click install. If anything app makers taking advantage of newer API’s and features are the number one reason to upgrade.

 

[Mascots]

I know of plenty cases where elders take over a phone and have no need for the latest iCloud stuff or other features. They want a fast iPhone 6 that has the os installed it came with in the first place.

So let's allow some of the most subjective members of the iOS audience run versions of iOS with security issues...

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

I personally think there should be a class action lawsuit over this practice.

When I had my battery replaced in my iPhone 5s, Apple forced the upgrade from IOS 10, which was very stable/mature at the time to a very buggy, slow IOS 11 and a lot of my apps no longer worked at all and the phone was slow as molasses. Forcing an upgrade on you just shouldn't be allowed. I paid for the device. I'm not renting it. I should be able to put whatever IOS version the device is capable of using.

rant over

 

[FellaMeLad]

...but there is none, that's the point.

All devices that supported 11 can upgrade to 12.

I think I just phrased my question wrong - sorry about that. I just wondered what would happen with older devices that required earlier versions of iOS. But from the replies i’ve Seen, those devices will likely have a version of iOS signed for them. Thanks for the replies.

 

[justperry]

That’s not even justifiable in any case. Being an elder does not exclude you from the progression of technology. Apple did not force anyone to update their phones. Sure, the little number one button in settings is a small annoyance, but you didn’t have to click install. If anything app makers taking advantage of newer API’s and features are the number one reason to upgrade.

While that is true, not too long ago an update was downloaded onto your device, if you only had like a 8 GB iPhone it would take a considerable amount of space, plenty of people got so annoyed by it that they updated, AFAIK there was no way to delete the Update.

 

[Mascots]

While that is true, not too long ago an update was downloaded onto your device, if you only had like a 8 GB iPhone it would take a considerable amount of space, plenty of people got so annoyed by it that they updated, AFAIK there was no way to delete the Update.

That was fixed in an update

 

[fairuz]

The benefits outweigh the cons. It's not planned obsolescence.

It means Apple doesn't have to mess around with patching old versions for security updates unless that version was an iOS device's last, and even then rarely. Since downgrading is impossible, jailbreaking devices becomes harder and that is at the root of many exteme exploits. So, security is one reason.

It helps to push the adoption number higher, which is good for developers and users alike because it keeps the hardware and software diversity among active devices low. Much easier to build software with fewer variables and always up to date mechanics.

I agree with all of this; Apple should push updates and prevent downgrading after a grace period. But an iOS update should not lag my phone to the point of the keyboard being unusable, which iOS 11 did, thanks to the stupid throttling. If they're going to keep everyone on the latest version, that version oughtta be better than the previous, not blatantly worse.

Besides that issue, if you look at how much faster the CPUs have gotten without any big improvement in battery life, it's apparent that iOS gets heavier at a very fast rate. Faster than any OS I've ever seen. You can run the latest macOS on 2012 hardware, or earlier with hacks, and it runs smoothly. iOS 11, after disabling the throttling, is still obviously heavier than 10.

My iPhone 6 is such a PoS at this point that it feels slower than an Android phone I just bought for $15.