It is a mess when you have new handsets being sold with old software and that are incapable of running the latest version.
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New Features in iOS 6 Receive Spotty Support from Older Devices
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It is a mess when you have new handsets being sold with old software and that are incapable of running the latest version.
Constant OS improvements are fine, & so is reducing the features available to older devices if the features require more GPU or RAM etc. On the face of it VIP lists doesn't seem to be one of those features that a 3GS couldn't handle.
The problem is that Apple prevent owners reverting to earlier OS's. So if you upgrade to iOS 6 & find it is slow after a few weeks or you prefer iOS 5's Google maps app you may not be able to revert it back to iOS 5. Apple actively remove your ability to restore a device to OS prior to the last one.
I'm sure someone already posted this but, could you guys fix the red spell check line under "Nav"? It's really bothering me
Well, you make a good point on the MMS and VC issues, but--in general--I think Jobs usually saw the big picture.
Apple shouldn't be using software gimping to trick Apple loyalists into upgrading prematurely.
Making money handover fist, as they are, they should be keeping existing users happy and letting them upgrade when they honestly feel the need.
I mean phone/mobile computing development could hardly be moving at a faster pace. Why does Apple have to go out of their way to deny features to their existing users?
I think it's a d-bag move that's super short-sighted.
Not that much of a mess when the "old software" has features baked-in from day 1 that iOS is only just catching up with.
When Google added turn-by-turn, they supported 1.6 upwards -- even the very first T-Mobile G1 runs that. Apple won't even allow their very best phone from June last year to run it. Planned obsolescence at its finest.
Even if Jobs would have made the same decision, it would have been a bad one.
Phone/mobile computing hardware is advancing at crazy speed--Apple need not lock out features for hardware that can run it...give it a year and the hardware honestly won't be able to run what they're throwing at it.
The problem is that Apple is viewing iOS updates as a means of getting people to upgrade. Whatever happened to making the best darn product they could?
It never ceases to amaze me how much the blind follower rationalize this practice from Apple. At the same time they completely take it to Google on Android devices supposedly not getting updates. Bottom Line, when Google updates Android, all the high end hardware that is comparable to the iPhone, are upgraded fully. Not half baked like this iOS 6 update. Don't bring in the cheap dollar basement phones. Those people hardly care for performance as much as someone who buys the top of the line hardware. So it would be safe to assume they don't care too much for an upgrade, unless they have an issue. The iPhone 4 isn't even all that old considering the 4S was barely an upgrade. So if you're just fine with rationalizing that a iPhone 4 user doesn't care for all the features of the newest OS, and is due for an upgrade to the 5, then use that same logic when discussing upgrades on an "equivalent" Android device. Again don't compare the iPhone to some pay as you go cheap Android phone. So if the Galaxy S2 doesn't get Jelly Bean, you shouldn't take that as a shot against Android, you should look at it in the same way you look at the iPhone 4 not getting all the newest features. You should look at it as the GS2 owner being due for an upgrade to the GS4. Consistency in the sheep logic is all I expect. That's not asking too much I would hope.
I'm surprised there isn't more outrage at the fact that the original iPad is not getting any iOS 6 even though the iPhone 3GS is getting some features. Conveniently left out of their report by MacRumors I suppose.
As much as I love Apple, I do detest it when they do stuff like this.
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Couldn't agree more. I expect better from Apple. I want them to behave in word and deed.
As much as I love Apple, I do detest it when they do stuff like this.
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Couldn't agree more. I expect better from Apple. I want them to behave in word and deed.
There is a difference between lacking a software feature and lacking a software revision.
Lacking a feature means users can't use that single feature, which is what we have here.
On android users are stuck on 2.2, 2.3 with no upgrade path. Any apps created for 4.0 do not work. Considering less than 10% of users have 4.0, that means that the 4.0 sdk features either go unused, or developers have to do a lot more reinventing of the wheel to recreate the features on devices with old OS revisions.
I don't agree with Apple dropping iPad 1 from updates, mainly because iPad's aren't subsidized and most people don't expect to upgrade every two years. (Again, it is not that the iPad 1 needs Siri or other new features, it just needs the new API's to enable it to run current apps.)
The 4 is being sold at a reduced cost vs. the 4s. iOS 6 is BETA; it's not out, and won't be out until the next iPhone is released. No one knows the exact cost, but the 3GS being sold now is 99 cents new, and a penny for a refurb [both subsidized]. So I'd be willing to bet the 4 will be selling for that, or close to it. The 4s will probably go for $99.99, and the new ones $199.99.
This has been the MO for Apple for a while, so it's no surprise that they'll limit features on the older phones. It's a revenue stream for them. They did it with iOS 4, and then 5, and will do so with 6.
iPhone 4
Ridiculous the iPhone 4 doesn't get FaceTime over 3G, unless there's some extreme processing needed for the compression they are using the please the carriers...
And I understand the lack of flyover on the iPhone 4, but surely the turn by turn could work? Considering its grouped in the table I don't know. Anyone know if turn by turn navigation does work on an iPhone 4?
Ridiculous the iPhone 4 doesn't get FaceTime over 3G, unless there's some extreme processing needed for the compression they are using the please the carriers...
And I understand the lack of flyover on the iPhone 4, but surely the turn by turn could work? Considering its grouped in the table I don't know. Anyone know if turn by turn navigation does work on an iPhone 4?
This is why my relationship with Apple is a love/hate relationship. I mean they have great hardware and software, but every update while I still own my iPhone for I just get more and more bent over and mad.
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Short answer... Apple still sells the 3GS... but they currently don't sell the iPad 1
However, users that do run 2.3 get all of 2.3, not some bastardized version based on their hardware. That's how Apple gets iOS adoption rates high.
Not to mention with iOS, you need to upgrade the core OS to update the stock applications. Android stock applications are upgraded outside of core OS updates. Hence a user running 2.3 might still get the same version of Maps a 4.0 user does, he just doesn't get the new UI theme.
What you describe would be worse. It's pretty much what they did with Siri once they bought it and removed it from the App Store.
But, overall, I get your point.
The issue that it seems to me like Apple is using an iOS update to get people to upgrade hardware. They do that by limiting what software is allowed to run on your hardware, regardless if your hardware could easily run it.
Nothing illegal with this. I'd expect any other company that didn't care about it's userbase to do the same. I am surprised Apple is pulling this.
Apple, I thought, was smart enough and confidant enough in their products to let people choose when they would upgrade without any software-based trickery.
Bottom line: Apple is gimping what you can run on your phone in the hope you'll upgrade sooner than you really need to. Given how quickly advances are being made in this industry, it seems like a foolish move that needlessly will anger some loyal users, all just to get a few people to upgrade earlier.
...Or maybe Apple is no longer confidant it's putting out a better product.
Why not include the 3GS? Not fair when people criticize Android for fragmentation but when Apple pull tons of features for a phone that is still being sold is disgraceful. I always said that Apple should have pulled the 3GS off the market over a year ago because it's holding back iOS potential. So instead of a full blown make over we get apps and small tweaks, again.
And watch. Same will happen to the iPhone 4 next year when iOS 7 is shown off. Sure Apple will update it but it will be crippled. And don't get me started on the first iPad. They partially updated the 3GS to iOS 6 but not the iPad 1? Greedy Apple!!!
And watch. Same will happen to the iPhone 4 next year when iOS 7 is shown off. Sure Apple will update it but it will be crippled. And don't get me started on the first iPad. They partially updated the 3GS to iOS 6 but not the iPad 1? Greedy Apple!!!
Gimme a break. They support old hardware a lot longer than their competitors, but eventually, it's a business. They want to sell you a new iPhone. AND, they don't want to spend man hours developing and debugging for a five year old device.
I have an iPhone 4, I heard that they were taking away streetview as they replace the Maps App; that's a real downgrade as I find it so usefull on roadtrips for previewing places before arriving and it's brilliant for finding a place I have forgotten the name of around town but do know the location. I thought at least It would be replaced by an utterly useless but fun feature like flyover where I can make my own sound effects as I pretend to flyover some cities. Apperently not. I knew eventually Apple would abandon supporting my device, didn't think they'd downgrade it though.
Yes, they do want to sell you new hardware. That's the business model. and yet their support for legacy products is still better than the competition. So if it angers you that much, go buy a Samsung/blackberry/whatever and see how long they keep upgrading you to the latest.