I’ve been much happier with iOS 16 than with 15 when it came out. iOS 15 was very buggy at first and people were afraid of the CSAM scanning so both probably slowed adoption.
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iOS 16 Installed on Almost 70% of iPhones Nearly 100 Days After Launch
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Ditto @GrumpyMom. I turned off auto-update in the settings of my iPhone SE (2022) and I've been rocking 15.7 for months (never downloaded 15.7.1, woops). I never get notifications to upgrade. The closest thing to it is a notification on the settings app icon which I can easily ignore. Side question -- now that you mention it... did iPhones used to nag about updating the OS? Have they changed it?
@CheffyDude -- FWIW, I've noticed zero performance difference staying on an older OS. Conversely, it's always after OS updates that I notice my phone get slower.
Once again in the minority, but being informed is a welcome trade off. And if anyone did not mention, fix the crappy battery life with 16 Apple. Even devoted content creators have underlined this problem, especially on the iPads.
I'm still on 15.7. on my 13pro . I'm not updating to 16 yet, I still read about battery and wifi issues
Common argument, instead, has been that refusing to upgrading is what preserves iPhone functionality.
Are we now modifying the "Planned Obsolescence" conspiracy to additionally say that, if you refuse to upgrade iOS, Apple has also deliberately programmed iOS with a sort of shelf-life or best by date so that beyond that date iOS deliberately becomes 'slow, laggy, and unresponsive' -- in order to "encourage" iOS or hardware upgrading?
It’s not who feeding, however it is good because you have the most recent security updates and the latest version gets the most attention when new issues are identified. Back in the days before Apple broke the industry tradition of charging for updates people did not upgrade. Security was not much of a consideration but not updating forced Apple and other companies to support to ancient versions of an OS. Now you move forward for free unless you choose to be one of the zealots who is stuck on version X of an OS in order to run an no longer supported app. I’ve seen posts where people are 3-4 version behind on OS X. At some point you have to move forward.
I can confirm that iOS devices maintain top-notch performance and battery life on their original version of iOS and there is no timer or shelf-life or best-by date.
I can also confirm that Apple does everything they can to both compel and force people to update, thereby reducing device usability, obliterating battery life, and shattering performance.
A little clarity on that:
-Like I mentioned, Apple started randomly deactivating - and continues to deactivate - A9 processors on iOS 9. I had my 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 9 back in 2019. I was reading a newspaper in Safari, the iPad rebooted on its own right into the activation screen. I had no choice other than to update, which brings me to:
-Apple does not allow iOS devices to be restored to the same version they’re on. Device totally unresponsive. Device with an issue that can’t be solved through messing with the software that’s installed. Cool, try restoring in Recovery Mode… and right to the latest version you go. This is forced. There is nothing you can do to restore to the same version you’re on.
-Apple used to forcibly download iOS updates in the background. They later changed it, but for a very long time, you couldn’t stop it or opt-out. This was just an annoyance, but it was… needlessly annoying. Like… why? Why do this? I’ll download the iOS update if and when I want to.
-And the most important part… Apple does not allow downgrading. I wouldn’t have complained about my iPad’s deactivation if I could just download an IPSW, hit option-restore, and install whatever number version I want. Very easy, very simple. But no, they just have to force you to the latest version through any means they can, and they have to suppress the only way that we have of regaining top-notch device functionality and quality.
Oftentimes I think they just do it for their little iOS adoption rate graph. They love it so much.
Here’s an email. You can send a link to this post: tim@apple.com. I know Tim shares your embarrassment. /s
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The number of devices dropping off the eligibility list for the latest iOS could be around the same each year, higher or lower. My point was that the number of eligible devices each year can vary. During each past 6 or so year period, some number of phones drop off the eligibility list, some number of phones were added, and annual sales varied (not always increasing). Given that iPhone had some down years (lower than 2015 figures) between 2016 and 2020, I don’t think it's reasonable to assume that the number of eligible iPhones grows "significantly" each year.
I emailed Federighi about it months ago. Thanks. I might be directly responsible for their changing part of it in iOS 16.2
You’re clearly a power user complaining about a platform explicitly designed to take the fuss and muss in operating a *desktop OS* paradigm away. That’s odd.
Why aren’t some of these options you’re asking for (like using an IPSW for testing out theories) there? Because these are devices that bring computing to the millions/billions of people that have no interest in operating their phone or tablet as a desktop OS.
Btw, it’s kind of funny to see a power user make the claim that their iPad rebooted out of the blue to run an update, when the reality is that at some point you dismissed the update notification by entering your passcode to allow it to update automatically.
iOS as it was called at the time, doesn’t just automatically install the update unless you’ve got that setting enabled, and have authorized the upgrade.
If this is happening, I think they do it to get more beta testers on public releases because more people are becoming informed of new features that are appear not thoroughly QC'd at Apple for whatever reason, however I have to say none of the devices I have ever owned were forced into a new iOS version.
Just watched a devoted content creator talk about 16.2 RC after a couple days after release. Stuttering, no dark mode wall paper (regressing), & especially poor battery performance were just a few misses on this latest 16.2 release.
I’m not a power user, I just use the iPad for content consumption and have no interest in Apple adding features to iPadOS. I’m possibly one of the users here who expects the least from iPadOS. I just want to stay at my original iOS version, undisturbed. That’s all.
I have too many years of experience with iOS, and I’m way too fearful of iOS updates to inadvertently update by inputting the passcode at that screen. It’s a well-known issue with, specifically, A9 and A9X processors in any version of iOS 9. They deactivate and there’s nothing you can do to reactivate it. Apple broke activation servers, for, again only A9 processors on iOS 9. A9 on iOS 10? Fine! A8 on iOS 9? Fine! It’s only that specific combination which, for some inexplicable reason, is broken and can’t be used. It did not reboot to update, it rebooted to deactivate. I then had to manually update it, because I found no way to bypass that screen. In fact, the iPhone was stuck on setup.app, which is the internal iOS app that controls initial setup, when you buy an iPhone and have to set it up? That’s setup.app, only in this case it’d never let you in. It would say “there has been a problem with activation, please update iOS and try again”. It never updated on its own, I had to, because it wouldn’t let me use the iPad on iOS 9. Here, a MacRumors thread on the topic: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-6s-with-ios-9-3-3-suddenly-requires-activation.2222823/
As to why Apple does it, I have no clue. They allow reverting on MacOS... Some people say their intent is nefarious, to get people to upgrade, as iOS updates undeniably obliterate performance and battery life; others, to streamline the userbase. I say “I don’t know”. I don’t know whether it’s nefarious, I don’t know whether the intent is good. All I say is that this approach is 100% wrong. People have complained about this for years, however. It will not change. It comes with iOS, and we have to accept it. It won’t stop me from saying this when I see that annoying Apple graph, though.
Thing is, they don’t force you directly (unless we are talking about the iOS 9 A9 activation bug, which is one isolated case. Like I said, it doesn’t happen with any other combination of processor and iOS version. It’s a bug Apple won’t fix, for some reason. If it were to keep me from having an older version of iOS, they would’ve deactivated my 6s on iOS 10, and I activated it last year without a problem), but they do force you indirectly, like I said. You have to restore? To the latest version you go. Any weird issue? Update! A device replacement? It’s on the latest version of iOS. A battery replacement on iPads? No, we don’t do that, we replace the whole device. It is, you guessed it, updated to the latest version. I will never be able to replace the battery on my 9.7-inch iPad Pro. iOS 12 obliterated battery life coming from iOS 9, you can be sure that unless I am strictly forced, this iPad is never seeing iPadOS 16, 17, or whatever other update Apple wants to throw.
Yeah, that happens very frequently. Oftentimes, specific battery drain issues on the latest model (emphasis mine, on the latest model) are solved on its original version of iOS through point updates. For non-current (the M1 iPad Pro would be non-current) iOS devices, battery drain brought about by major updates (i.e., full number updates) are irreversible. Sure, maybe iPadOS 16.2 improves battery performance when comparing it to 16.0 on, say, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. Rest assured, however, that it will be worse than any version of iOS 12, I won’t even mention iOS 9. So, iOS 12>>>>>>>>>>iPadOS 16.2 > iPadOS 16.0.
Great - Because the person I quoted was seemingly trying to upend the established conspiracy. Or maybe have it both ways, dunno. I'm surprised the "best-by" date concept hasn't popped up sooner, though. I mean, Apple will do anything, because they can get away with anything, right?
So here's the thing, I get bothered once to upgrade. I say no. And that's it. I have two first gen iPad Pro 9.7" which launched with iOS 9.3 -- now just do the math. That's a launch date of effectively April 2016. That's just over 6.5 years and 6 iOS version. By your words the battery, usability, and performance should absolutely be positively destroyed. They're both perfectly usable.
Don't believe me - here's someone comparing two iPhone 6s. One is iOS 9 and the other with iOS 15:
So in other words, you're supporting the person I quoted. Your story is different, but the ultimate claim is the same. Apple pulls the puppet strings. Sure, your problem your fault could have been anything else. But, no. This was Apple deliberately deactivated your iPad Pro 9.7. Even if you were "randomly" selected - you chose not to upgrade so you were marked as vulnerable in Apple's secret database of non-compliant end-users.
This isn't really different then posting (as the person I responded to) that iOS could have a "best-by" date. It's true because it happened to that individual person and that's all the proof they need.
By the way, how is your iPad Pro now compared to iOS 9?
No, I don’t think Apple will do anything. Performance drops severely, but it’s a lot better than it used to be back with 32-bit devices. The A5 on iOS 9 is unusable, the A4 on iOS 7 is even more unusable. The A9 on iOS 15/iPadOS 16 is worse, but certainly usable, even if RAM isn’t enough to prevent heavy reloads on Safari and occasional crashes. Yes, it’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better than it’s used to be, and I’ve always given credit to Apple for that improvement, even if quality of use continues to decrease.
I am sure that your 9.7-inch iPad Pro’s battery life is infinitely worse on iPadOS 16 than it was on iOS 9. Performance is worse too, though nothing like 32-bit devices, like I said. Usable? Absolutely. It is severely worse, but it’s a lot better than it used to be. Currently, the problem is battery life. It is obliterated like it always was. Performance, again, is better than it used to be.
Regarding my issue which pertains to A9 devices on iOS 9, I wasn’t clear enough on my reply to you - I’ve explained it a lot better in subsequent comments. It is a bug. A horrible bug, which I blame Apple for not fixing (I’ve known about it for years, it remains unfixed). Apple did not deliberately deactivate MY iPad. There is some bug on the activation servers, something like, if the device has an A9 processor and is on any version of iOS 9, deactivate the device. It happens to the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, SE (1st gen), and the iPad Pro 9.7 and 12.9-inch (1st gen) on iOS 9. They deactivate, randomly and without explanation, and can’t be reactivated unless you update. Like I said on subsequent comments, I recently activated an iPhone 6s on iOS 10, no issues. I have an iPhone 5s on iOS 8, no issues. It’s that specific combination that is affected. A shame, I had two of my favourite iOS devices ever on that version, both forced out of iOS 9 (a 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 9.3.4 and an iPhone 6s on iOS 9.3.3. The former now runs iOS 12.4.1; the latter, some version of iOS 13). I would like to think Apple didn’t do that on purpose; in fact, it’s the most logical explanation: why the A9 on iOS 9 and not the A9 on iOS 10, or the A7 on iOS 7-8; or the A12 on iOS 12? Because it’s a bug. A bug that Apple, like I said, for some inexplicable reason won’t fix, but I’m inclined to think that it isn’t on purpose. Apple had never messed with something like that before, Apple hasn’t done anything like that since. All evidence points to a non-nefarious reason: a bug. Despite that, I was very angry when it happened, and I still think I was right to be. Allow downgrades, and I would’ve said “oh, look, that’s odd, iOS 9 has a weird bug? Let’s go to iOS 10, which is flawless, no worries!”
Like I said, I don’t know whether Apple worsens performance and battery life - to whatever degree - on purpose, I don’t think it matters, even. What matters is that they won’t let me downgrade, but yeah, I am content with assuming that their intent isn’t nefarious, I only blame Apple on their action (disallowing downgrades), and I choose not to speculate on a nefarious reason (the usual claim of “Apple wants us to update so we have to buy a new device, after ours is obliterated”). I reiterate, iOS devices don’t have a best-by date. That’s an absurd claim. I use 10-year-old iOS devices on their original versions and they run as well as they did on day 1.
My 9.7-inch iPad Pro is good on performance (the only noticeable issue I’ve found is occasional keyboard lag, which wasn’t present on iOS 9, and which isn’t present on my iPad Air 5 on iPadOS 15.6 - which is hopefully the first and last version that ever runs on that iPad), and battery life is mediocre, dropping immediately from 14-14,5 hours on iOS 9 to barely scraping 10-11 (oftentimes even less) on iOS 12. Of course, I’ve kept it on iOS 12 ever since. A good choice. People here who use the same device have said that iPadOS 13 was pretty horrible in both standby battery drain (which, I must say, is flawless on iOS 12, like-new), and performance (RAM started to be an issue, with the 2GB of RAM struggling a little, unlike on iOS 12 and earlier). Battery life on iPadOS 15 and 16, as far as I’ve read, is abhorrent, often barely scraping 4 hours.
I can’t speak about iPadOS 15 or 16, but I used this iPad on iOS 9 for three years, and on iOS 12 for almost 3.5 years (like I said, hopefully it runs iOS 12 forever, it’s my favourite iPad ever). After being extremely frustrated after it happened, I looked at this thing under a microscope. The fact that I only saw sporadic keyboard lag is, frankly, me congratulating Apple on performance. I will always acknowledge this. Battery life is a lot worse than I’d like, however.
You know what an IPSW is, you want the ability to restore and downgrade (and even understand what that means), you are not the typical iOS/iPad user. My parents,grandparents, and coworkers are regular users, the type that ask about how to take screenshots and “should I upgrade” (2 years after an upgrade became available).
Craig
I’ve not had either of those issues since I’ve made the jump to iOS 16 but I also follow a wait and see approach to installing updates. Normal functionality of my device is just too important to me. I’ve ignored the xx.0 updates for the last couple of years and will continue to do so.
You make some excellent points but disagree on this one - from a usability perspective, having the notifications where you can more easily interact with them (especially one-handed) is probably the best change Apple has made in a long time. It's a concept Steve Jobs always championed for. It definitely challenged the predominant notifications paradigm in smartphones, but as most phones are much larger these days, it makes perfect sense.