They actually have, to iPod touch owners if memory serves (3.0 update maybe?)
That being said, this thread is still silly, and I am mad for putting it at the top again
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IOS 5 will not be free.
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They actually have, to iPod touch owners if memory serves (3.0 update maybe?)
That being said, this thread is still silly, and I am mad for putting it at the top again
firstly i said HEARD! and the next word i used was UNLIKELY.
Heard - in blog terms reading articles around the story of what COULD be happening at the WWDC aka RUMORS
Unlikely - My perception (meaning senses to acquire information about the surrounding environment or situation) by the looks of your user ID i thought i'd break down the meaning of difficult words you may struggle with.
Back to the subject. lets all be reasonable IF apple do decide to charge (which im speculating) they'll need to make up revenue somehow, somewhere.
Depate!
First of all, let's get one thing absolutely straight: Apple could have decided that they wanted to charge everybody for all major iOS upgrades, if they had thought that it would have been in their best business interests to do so. There is no law that would have prohibited them from doing that.
Of course, doing so would have slowed uptake of newer versions of the OS, creating an unduly fractured ecosystem which would have harmed their attempts to roll out their App Store infrastructure. So that option was out of the question.
On the contrary, there was (and still is) a law, Sarbanes-Oxley, which, when taken in conjunction with "generally accepted accounting practices", would have supposedly prohibited Apple from giving away the major iOS upgrades for free to the iPod touch -- even though it was okay to give away the upgrades for the iPhone.
This distinction was not because of any inherent property of the device itself that differed from the iPhone. Rather, it was because of the bookkeeping method that Apple used to use to account for the money they made from purchases of the iPod touch versus the method that Apple used to account for purchases of iPhones.
Apple used to account for all the money from the purchase of an iPod touch all at once, and so according to Sarbanes-Oxley, the product sold must have reached its final and permanent condition at the instant they received their money. Bug fixes to repair broken feature that were already present in the software would be OK to give away for free, but any new substantial changes to the product, such as adding major new software features, supposedly would have to be accompanied by a separate sale.
Apple used to spread out the money it received for the sale of an iPhone in equal installments over the course of 2 years. And so, according to Sarbanes-Oxley, the product didn't have to reach its final and permanent condition until after the end of that 2 year period. In the mean time, Apple would be free to give away new substantial features if it so chose.
Apple has always taken the same approach for the Apple TV and for the iPad as it did for the iPhone.
See the first three paragraphs of page 22 of Apple's most recent quarterly report for corroborating points on all these assertions:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NzgwODJ8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1
Beginning in June 2010, generally accepted accounting practices changed, so that, instead of dividing up the whole purchase price in equal installments over 2 years, Apple was able to recognize most of the purchase price all at once, and only set aside a small portion of it to be recognized over the course of the following 2 years to account for future new features. So a greater percentage of the iPhone purchase price can go on Apple's books right away, but some is still set aside to account for future upgrades.
At the same time as the GAAP guidelines changed, Apple also started treating new sales of iPod touches in the same way as it had always been treating iPhones - holding a small percentage of the original purchase price back over the course of 2 years to account for future upgrades.
So now, because of this new change to Apple's accounting procedure, Apple is permitted to give away major upgrades to the iPod touch in the same way that it has always been permitted to give away free upgrades to the iPhone.
First of all, that was for the iPod Touch, not for the iPhone. They've never charged for an update for the iPhone.
Why do threads like this get made?
Because people want to be the first even when there are 5-10 other threads on it
My speculation:
There will never again be any overlap period where some devices get the software for free and others have to pay for it. It'll be either all (for free) or nothing.
All iOS devices that continue to meet the minimum hardware specs for future iOS versions, will receive those new iOS versions for free. After all, as noted in my post above, you've already paid for those upgrades, because Apple has already specifically set aside some of the money you paid when you bought the device for that purpose.
Older iOS devices that no longer meet the minimum hardware specs for future iOS versions, simply will not receive those iOS versions.
There will never again be any overlap period where some devices get the software for free and others have to pay for it. It'll be either all (for free) or nothing.
All iOS devices that continue to meet the minimum hardware specs for future iOS versions, will receive those new iOS versions for free. After all, as noted in my post above, you've already paid for those upgrades, because Apple has already specifically set aside some of the money you paid when you bought the device for that purpose.
Older iOS devices that no longer meet the minimum hardware specs for future iOS versions, simply will not receive those iOS versions.
Thread title is a statement.
Original post is a question.
Fail or ignorance?
Either way, title is definitely misleading.
And Apple charged for the iPod Touch 2G for the iOS upgrade as it was required by law. Not because they wanted to. RTFM please.
Original post is a question.
Fail or ignorance?
Either way, title is definitely misleading.
And Apple charged for the iPod Touch 2G for the iOS upgrade as it was required by law. Not because they wanted to. RTFM please.
http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/iphone.pdf
The iPhone license agreement guarantees that Apple will provide you with all updates to the iOS version that shipped with your device as well as the next major version and all updates for free.
For example, if your iPhone ships with iOS 4, you are entitled to iOS 5 and all incremental update to iOS 5 (5.x.x).
The iPhone license agreement guarantees that Apple will provide you with all updates to the iOS version that shipped with your device as well as the next major version and all updates for free.
For example, if your iPhone ships with iOS 4, you are entitled to iOS 5 and all incremental update to iOS 5 (5.x.x).
I feel sorry for the poor soul that had to sit there and type that out. He must have arthritis.
exactly. I don't see the point for Apple to charge iPhone owners for an iOS upgrade.
I highly doubt someone made $500 an hour to type that out. That's pure assumption. I'll bet some secretary typed that out for around $20-30 an hour.
They've done it once to the iPod Touch, but never to the iPhone. The iPhone upgrade will be free. And more than likely, the iPod one will be as well.