iPhone 6(S)/Plus My four-year-old iPhone 6s Plus is too good to upgrade, and that should worry Apple

[redheeler]

My four-year-old iPhone 6s Plus is too good to upgrade, and that should worry Apple

This article doesn't seem to get what planned obsolescence actually means for technology. It doesn't mean simply that a newer and better model is being released every year. It means the purposeful withholding of newer software features or fixes from an older model in order to encourage or force someone to upgrade. This is something Apple is doing with Catalina being purposefully withheld from the 2012 Mac Pro, but with iOS 13 Apple has instead opted to fully support the iPhone 6s. Not quite the planned obsolescence the author wants us to believe is going on.

My conclusion is that Apple likely foresees longevity and consistent updates as a selling point for iPhones over Android smartphones. The hope is that users on older iPhones will be more inclined to generate services revenue if they are given up-to-date software, and this may be a correct assumption to make given Apple's rising services revenue despite declining iPhone sales. Like it or not, smartphones are becoming a mature product category with people upgrading less often similar to what has happened with PCs, so Apple might as well embrace the trend with longer iOS support periods as a selling point and also look for revenue elsewhere like services.

Long live the iPhone 6s Plus.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

The author of this can't be serious. Apple supporting a four-year-old phone is a bad thing? Wow.

 

[bbednarz]

That is just a horrible article lol. Guy loves the phrase planned obsolescence, but doesn't seem to understand what it means. This issue isn't Apple specific. None of the newest 'latest and greatest' phones are doing anything revolutionary. It just is what it is.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Apple: releases a new phone
Guy writing the article: pLaNnEd ObSoLeScEnCe

 

[mtneer]

That longevity maybe an anomaly because of the controversy over the battery issues a couple of years ago. I wouldn't hold my breath over expecting the same kind of longevity on future models.

 

[Jimmy James]

He lost me early on when he said the iPhone turned “just a phone into a pocket computer”. Smartphones were in play well before the iPhone. Apple just did it better. People cared, in part, simply because it was Apple.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I loved my iPhone 6S and still have it as a backup phone to this day. That being said, my X is a better device in every respect and I don’t regret upgrading in 2017 at all just like I won’t regret upgrading my X when I feel the need to do so..

 

[Rodney Dangerfield]

I loved my iPhone 6S and still have it as a backup phone to this day. That being said, my X is a better device in every respect and I don’t regret upgrading in 2017 at all just like I won’t regret upgrading my X when I feel the need to do so..

Agree...Holding out for iPhone 12 with 5G!