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I think the iPhone 4s will most likely support up to iOS 9, the 5/5c up to iOS 10, and the 5s up to iOS 11 or 12. Because the iPhone 6 was the first iPhone since the iPhone 4 not to double the previous generation's performance, and since they seem to be increasing the amount of iOS's supported for each "S" model (the 3GS supported 4 and the 4s supported 5), it's possible that the 5s support 6 iOS versions and end support along with the iPhone 6.

In other words, the iPhone 6 should support iOS 12 and possibly iOS 13, at least that's what I would guess.
 
Too hard to tell. I would assume till at least iOS 11 or 12. But again, hard to tell. Because as newer devices are released 2gb of ram will become standard for them all. This will push iOS further and add in more advanced features to utilize the 2gb of ram.

Anything 6 and below will get left behind in features as newer iOS versions are built with 2gb of ram in mind. (Yes, the 4s currently will get iOS 9 but it's stripped of nearly all the exclusive features to iOS 9.) The current 6 and 6+ will be the same once iOS gets around 11 or 12. I personally don't think the current 6 will get as many iOS's as the 4s has. Because I have a feeling once the 2gb of ram, advancements to iOS will be bigger and in a sense quicker (quicker of maybe only 1-2 iOS's for a feature to come to life vs dragging it out over 2-4.)
 
There is a new type of support that will arise aside from the formal entire OS updates: it's the service support: I am sure Apple will ensure that all iPhone 6 users can use Apple Pay and Apple Music for a very long period of time.
 
In my mind, the switch to aluminium made these iPhones physically less likely to last beyond the 2 year contract period.
Previously, it's the computing power in the iPhone 4S that made me upgrade, 3.5 years after I bought it. Physically? It still held up incredibly and I think could have lasted another 3 years or more. Just need battery replacements.

In contrast, the aluminium iPhone 5S we have in the family looks way more beat up after 2 years.
 
In my mind, the switch to aluminium made these iPhones physically less likely to last beyond the 2 year contract period.
Previously, it's the computing power in the iPhone 4S that made me upgrade, 3.5 years after I bought it. Physically? It still held up incredibly and I think could have lasted another 3 years or more. Just need battery replacements.

In contrast, the aluminium iPhone 5S we have in the family looks way more beat up after 2 years.

Good grief, my iPhone 6+ is nearly a year old and still looks brand new. I fully expect to use it for another three years just like I did with my iPhone 4. I buy iPhones because they're well made and I prefer iOS to Android. They may cost a little more than an Android device but based on what I see from colleagues who buy those you are pretty much on a 2 year life span for each - just witnessed a well treated Nexus 4 where part of the touch screen no longer works so the user has to rotate the phone to type part of a message, then rotate it back to type the rest. That phone is only two years old. My iPhone 4 which is five years old still works perfectly and is my backup phone still although battery life is too short now for serious use (barely makes it through the day)

I'm less concerned about having the latest and greatest OS as long as the device still works. That's why I still have an iPad 1 on iOS 5 because it still works well for watching videos.
 
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Apple is very good at supporting their products. I mean, every single iPad except the original is still supported. Even the iPhone 4s with its 512MB of RAM is still supported. If their trend continues, we can expect the iPhone 6 to be running the latest iOS until at least 2018.
 
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Good grief, my iPhone 6+ is nearly a year old and still looks brand new. I fully expect to use it for another three years just like I did with my iPhone 4. I buy iPhones because they're well made and I prefer iOS to Android. They may cost a little more than an Android device but based on what I see from colleagues who buy those you are pretty much on a 2 year life span for each - just witnessed a well treated Nexus 4 where part of the touch screen no longer works so the user has to rotate the phone to type part of a message, then rotate it back to type the rest. That phone is only two years old. My iPhone 4 which is five years old still works perfectly and is my backup phone still although battery life is too short now for serious use (barely makes it through the day)

I'm less concerned about having the latest and greatest OS as long as the device still works. That's why I still have an iPad 1 on iOS 5 because it still works well for watching videos.

I understand.
But hold your iPhone 4. Now hold your iPhone 6Plus. The iPhone 4 feels a lot more solid/substantial.
The 6 Plus, with its aluminium structure, is less rigid.
They're not as well built.
 
I understand.
But hold your iPhone 4. Now hold your iPhone 6Plus. The iPhone 4 feels a lot more solid/substantial.
The 6 Plus, with its aluminium structure, is less rigid.
They're not as well built.
Exactly and heres how my problems have been with every iPhone.

iPhone 2007-none. 3G-none. 3GS-some cracking on plastic. 4-none. 4S-none. 5-scratches. 5S-none. 6/6+-screen clicking, bending, camera lens flair, and blurry photos.

IMO, the 6 and 6+ are the most poorly built iPhones to date.
 
Exactly and heres how my problems have been with every iPhone.

iPhone 2007-none. 3G-none. 3GS-some cracking on plastic. 4-none. 4S-none. 5-scratches. 5S-none. 6/6+-screen clicking, bending, camera lens flair, and blurry photos.

IMO, the 6 and 6+ are the most poorly built iPhones to date.

I agree.
iPhone owner since they were available out of the US here..
 
I'd expect the 6/6+ to last into 2018, possibly 2019, if we look at the 4s as a comparison.
A lot of people see the 1GB of ram as a limitation going forward, do you see that possibly hindering the length in comparison to the 4s? it's really quite difficult to speculate due to not knowing the direction iOS 9/10 will take in regards to ram requirements. But Apple is good at optimization.
 
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A lot of people see the 1GB of ram as a limitation going forward, do you see that possibly hindering the length in comparison to the 4s? it's really quite difficult to speculate due to not knowing the direction iOS 9/10 will take in regards to ram requirements. But Apple is good at optimization.

It should have. I use my 4S for a remote, what a POS. IMO supporting it on iOS 9 just adds another limitation for devs to work around.
 
I feel like the iPhone 6 will die a horrible death. My reasoning, it's similar to the iPhone 2G vs 3G situation. I'm pretty sure Apple will be forced into supporting the 6 one year longer than the 5S because it's a year older. However, there isn't really much of a performance difference between the devices. I'm aware that the 2G and 3G had the same performance rather than similar, but I'm sure you get the idea.

I can't say anything for which iOS version these devices will make it to because I think mobile technology is much different than it was in the past. We typically would see 3-4 iOS versions before the devices would severely slow down, but everything is so much more powerful that I think things will generally last a lot longer. However, we aren't out of the woods completely yet because of the RAM constraints involved with the 5S/6. With the 6S, I think we will last MUCH longer than ever before due to the 2GB of RAM and supposed iPad Air 2-esque performance. I could be very, very wrong, but just some speculation.
 
Youngsters and their crazy ideas... The next big cutoff isn't going to revolve around a ram limitation. More likely, it'll probably focus on whether the device is 64-bit capable. Deep down inside, iOS has OS X roots. The Mac said goodbye to 32-bit support a while ago and they only only currently support a handful of 32-bit idevices. With that said, by iOS 10/11, I wouldn't be surprised to see them drop everything pre-5S. The 1GB ram limitation will affect individual apps long before the OS.

So will the iPhone 6 be supported for a while? You bet...
 
The iPhone 6 is going to get as many updates as any other iPhone. Why? Because the next iOS limitation won't have anything to with RAM. It's going to have a lot to do with rather or not the device is64-bit or not
 
The iPhone 6 will get plenty of OS updates. It'll just be a matter of how well it performs. The iPhone 4 got iOS 7 but it was a performance nightmare. I'd imagine it will be the same case with the iPhone 6. I'm sure the iPhone 6 will be supported for another 2-3 years like people are saying. But good luck running any new apps on it without crashing.

All speculation of course. We'll see what Apple can pull off. I have an iPad Mini 1st gen running whatever the latest build is and it performs shockingly well for its age and RAM. Very very little crashing ever. Of course tabbed browsing without reloading is an issue like with any iPad that's not an Air 2 but I'm still very impressed. I'm sure it has to do with not having a retina screen but nonetheless, I'm impressed.
 
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