The way Apple handles iOS upgrades is almost criminal.

[sunking101]

As I regretfully updated my iPhone 4 to iOS 7, because it has become very sluggisch, I'm very hesitating to update my iPad3 to iOS 8.1.1!

Is my hesitation justified or not?

I hate the fact that a roll-back is a no go with Apple devices! WOW, regarding the price payed for them, it's an outrage!

Totally justified. iOS7 killed the iPhone 4 in my opinion and whilst iOS7 didn't slow down the iPhone 5, it reduced the battery life significantly and was a buggy mess for the best part of 12 months. I only do iOS updates now if I'm waiting on crucial bug fixes.

 

[Agent69]

I believe that it is wrong not to allow people to revert to the previous version of iOS. Apple should at least support installing the current version of iOS as well as the previous version. I really don't think that is too much to ask.

 

[Wild-Bill]

I believe that it is wrong not to allow people to revert to the previous version of iOS. Apple should at least support installing the current version of iOS as well as the previous version. I really don't think that is too much to ask.

All a part of their "planned obsolecence" policy, most likely.

 

[Italianblend]

I believe that it is wrong not to allow people to revert to the previous version of iOS. Apple should at least support installing the current version of iOS as well as the previous version. I really don't think that is too much to ask.

It may not be too much to ask, but how much money would Apple lose? They wouldn't sell as many devices because the ones people have would work fine.

 

[DoctorKrabs]

As Steve Jobs himself said when a user complained about the original Apple TV not having AirPlay Mirroring:

"It does everything it did when you bought it"

A device should be able to do everything it did when it was new, which includes performing well.

It's as simple as opening the signing server for older versions.

Apple should be forced by law to allow users to restore their devices to older versions, including the version that the device shipped with.

 

[maflynn]

I'm rather late to the thread, but to the OP's contention. I've been happy with the upgrades and I have no complaints.

 

[Slayter101]

here are apple's options

option 1. give update to devices that can run the software

answer: OMG MY IPHONE FROM 3 YEARS AGO IS SLOW ON THIS NEW SOFTWARE. WHAT'S WRONG WITH APPLE. WHY ARE THEY EVEN MAKING SOFTWARE UPDATES FOR MY PHONE.

option 2. give update to devices that are 1 year old, max

..............

The problem is not that you CAN upgrade, that's cool, PROBLEM IS, that you
CAN'T !!!! downgrade, when you realize this upgrade is not cool for your device.

And if your device would go bad, you have to reinstall and then you are FORCED to a new iOS, which will almost brick your device.


Reason for this (One of many) is that Apple needs to have about 80% pie chart at the end of year on newest iOS. If they would allow rollback, pie chart would be Android like.

 

[Itzamna]

So... Apple gives you the possibility, out of the "box", to have at least the next 3-4 iOS's in your iPhone/iPad/iPod without requiring any effort what so ever, and you think it's criminal...

You probably think that having 0 updates available in 90% of the Android phones is the way to go...

No one forces you to update... Apple just says that this iOS runs on those devices... It's obvious that a most recent iOS will have it's performance downgraded on older devices, but it's up to you to update it or not.

Plus, there are at several reasons (apart from money, because... hey... Apple is here to make money, they are not a charity association) why Apple normally doesn't allow to downgrade... You should investigate about them. As you should investigate before upgrading the iOS of an older device... Specially if that device is the last in the line to support that iOS.

 

[I7guy]

The problem is not that you CAN upgrade, that's cool, PROBLEM IS, that you
CAN'T !!!! downgrade, when you realize this upgrade is not cool for your device.

And if your device would go bad, you have to reinstall and then you are FORCED to a new iOS, which will almost brick your device.


Reason for this (One of many) is that Apple needs to have about 80% pie chart at the end of year on newest iOS. If they would allow rollback, pie chart would be Android like.

They want to push their ecosystem forward, which in the long run benefits every user. Eventually users of older hardware with older versions get left behind, but that is true on every platform.

 

[Itzamna]

Oh, and another thing... So far so good on my older devices (iOS or OS X devices) upgrades... They are all running iOS 8 and Yosemite. I just take some caution when updating older devices. Normally a fresh install and only recover my personal documents from backups.

 

[sunking101]

So... Apple gives you the possibility, out of the "box", to have at least the next 3-4 iOS's in your iPhone/iPad/iPod without requiring any effort what so ever, and you think it's criminal...

You probably think that having 0 updates available in 95% of the Android phones is the way to go...

No one forces you to update... Apple just says that this iOS runs on those devices... It's obvious that a most recent iOS will have it's performance downgraded on older devices, but it's up to you to update it or not.

Plus, there are at several reasons (apart from money, because... hey... Apple is here to make money, they are not a charity association) why Apple normally doesn't allow to downgrade... You should investigate about them. As you should investigate before upgrading the iOS of an older device... Specially if that device is the last in the line to support that iOS.

You sound like an Apple spokesman. The vast majority of people trust Apple and upgrade iOS without doing any research. The upgrade spiel states improvements, not slow-downs.

 

[Itzamna]

You sound like an Apple spokesman. The vast majority of people trust Apple and upgrade iOS without doing any research. The upgrade spiel states improvements, not slow-downs.

Humm... Defending Apple = to be either a fanboy or a Apple spokesman... Forgot about that rule. Sorry about that, not going to happen again!


You don't need to be that bright to, logically, deduct that if you use a brand new OS in a 3-4 years phone, stuff will be, most of the times, slower when compared to the stock OS... Be it on iPhones, Mac's, Android's, Windows, whatever that uses OS's... Granted that this degradation is slower on desktops and laptops, but it's still there.

Current OS's are made to run flawlessly on current machines (or near current), and they are also made to run "as-is" on older machines... Specially in a tight sandbox as Apple's, you (or Apple) don't want to have to support flawlessly machines older than X years.

 

[Italianblend]

Apple should be forced by law to allow users to restore their devices to older versions, including the version that the device shipped with.

My Man! Or Woman. Whatever you are. That's what I'm trying to say. It should be illegal what they are doing.

Didn't locked phones become illegal sometime recently?

 

[sunking101]

Humm... Defending Apple = to be either a fanboy or a Apple spokesman... Forgot about that rule. Sorry about that, not going to happen again!


You don't need to be that bright to, logically, deduct that if you use a brand new OS in a 3-4 years phone, stuff will be, most of the times, slower when compared to the stock OS... Be it on iPhones, Mac's, Android's, Windows, whatever that uses OS's... Granted that this degradation is slower on desktops and laptops, but it's still there.

Current OS's are made to run flawlessly on current machines (or near current), and they are also made to run "as-is" on older machines... Specially in a tight sandbox as Apple's, you (or Apple) don't want to have to support flawlessly machines older than X years.

I know that. Apple should broadcast this fact when they roll out their updates, rather than the usual spiel of 'performance improvements'. Your average man/woman/child on the street who doesn't understand tech (let's be honest, that's most iPhone buyers) doesn't expect that a simple update which Apple is badgering them with will actually make their phone run worse. Oh and Apple do badger them, the update flashes up and makes one think that it NEEDS to be done.

 

[C DM]

My Man! Or Woman. Whatever you are. That's what I'm trying to say. It should be illegal what they are doing.

Didn't locked phones become illegal sometime recently?

No, it only became legal to unlock them (as it trchnically wasn't so for a little while before).

----------

So... Apple gives you the possibility, out of the "box", to have at least the next 3-4 iOS's in your iPhone/iPad/iPod without requiring any effort what so ever, and you think it's criminal...

You probably think that having 0 updates available in 90% of the Android phones is the way to go...

No one forces you to update... Apple just says that this iOS runs on those devices... It's obvious that a most recent iOS will have it's performance downgraded on older devices, but it's up to you to update it or not.

Plus, there are at several reasons (apart from money, because... hey... Apple is here to make money, they are not a charity association) why Apple normally doesn't allow to downgrade... You should investigate about them. As you should investigate before upgrading the iOS of an older device... Specially if that device is the last in the line to support that iOS.

Investigating often won't really tell you much about how it actually is on your device for your everyday use. Whether or not you investigate (as you should anyway) doesn't in any way undermine the idea of being able to downgrade to at least the previous version. And as of Apple providing more updates and Android barely providing any for a lot of people, that's a fairly moot point as far as this discussion goes in terms of being able to downgrade.

 

[Italianblend]

As we have seen, some users feel that the updates don't impact their performance, and some do. So, doing an investigation based off of customer feedback isn't going to help much. It's apple's issue plain and simple. Passing blame off to the consumer doesn't help anything.

 

[Itzamna]

Investigating often won't really tell you much about how it actually is on your device for your everyday use. Whether or not you investigate (as you should anyway) doesn't in any way undermine the idea of being able to downgrade to at least the previous version. And as of Apple providing more updates and Android barely providing any for a lot of people, that's a fairly moot point as far as this discussion goes in terms of being able to downgrade.

As we have seen, some users feel that the updates don't impact their performance, and some do. So, doing an investigation based off of customer feedback isn't going to help much. It's apple's issue plain and simple. Passing blame off to the consumer doesn't help anything.

If i see 1 out of 10000 users reports saying that their iPhone 6 are slow, i (or the common guy/girl) will tend to believe that nothing is wrong with iPhone 6 performance and that 1 out of 10000 should be a isolated problem (Apple or user related, doesn't matter)...

If i see 5000 out of 10000 users reports saying that their iPhone 4S get slow after a iOS upgrade, then i will tend to believe that something is going on and that if i update my device, probably i will get a slower experience of my device.


As for the "moot point", i wasn't trying to make any.. I only deducted that the upgrade model (or models, since it's brand dependent) of Android, probably, was more suited to the OP needs...

I know that. Apple should broadcast this fact when they roll out their updates, rather than the usual spiel of 'performance improvements'. Your average man/woman/child on the street who doesn't understand tech (let's be honest, that's most iPhone buyers) doesn't expect that a simple update which Apple is badgering them with will actually make their phone run worse. Oh and Apple do badger them, the update flashes up and makes one think that it NEEDS to be done.

True. But again, not all older iphones are getting slower to a crawl with iOS8... Plus, as i said, Apple is here to make money... In that line of thought it wouldn't make any logic to not speak of it's performance improvements and rather speak that it might slow down your device.

As for the update flashing up... That happens for the same reasons of the downgrading limitation... Money, fragmentation, user experience in the Apple Sandbox, development time, etc etc etc...

In my opinion (based on my experience), every device Apple supports on it's iOS's, run great or near... I notice some miliseconds of lag when performing specific things, but it's nothing nowhere near enough for me to complain about it.

 

[DoctorKrabs]

Reason for this (One of many) is that Apple needs to have about 80% pie chart at the end of year on newest iOS. If they would allow rollback, pie chart would be Android like.

If Apple allowed downgrades, it would make no difference in usage share. The newest version would still end up at 90% after a year.

Downgrades would require a user to download the old IPSW and restore with iTunes. People who care enough to downgrade would do that, but the majority of users don't sync their devices to computers at all, and don't really care about speed after a software update.

It would be nice if Apple allowed the people who do care enough about performance to downgrade for the good of the devices that those people paid for.

There would never be enough people downgrading to make it "Android like". That is ridiculous.

 

[Slayter101]

If Apple allowed downgrades, it would make no difference in usage share. The newest version would still end up at 90% after a year.

There would never be enough people downgrading to make it "Android like". That is ridiculous.

I dont know, maybe, but my parents are not tech savvy at all so they are in group of people who dont care, yet when their iPad 2 got ios 8.x they DO noticed something is wrong, so even non tech savvy people realize sudden drop of performance...

 

[Watermann]

I regret everyday since two weeks ago when I updated to ios 8.1.1 from 7.1.2

I trusted the change log, I trusted several ipad2 and mini users on these forums. And now I hate them and hate Apple

I would even buy a new Ipad but seems only the air2 goes smooth with ios8

A lot of jailbreak news everyday but no one is able to bypass the Apple's ipsw sign. I don't need jb! I just want my ipad mini be the way it was when I bought it

I feel cheated

 

[sunking101]

I regret everyday since two weeks ago when I updated to ios 8.1.1 from 7.1.2

I trusted the change log, I trusted several ipad2 and mini users on these forums. And now I hate them and hate Apple

I would even buy a new Ipad but seems only the air2 goes smooth with ios8

A lot of jailbreak news everyday but no one is able to bypass the Apple's ipsw sign. I don't need jb! I just want my ipad mini be the way it was when I bought it

I feel cheated

Same with my father who 'upgraded' his iPhone 4 to iOS7 and it basically made his phone run like a 1980s device. It was sooo slow! Websites took an age to load, there was lag in the UI and typing on the keyboard had a lag before letters & digits appeared on the screen. Yet many on these forums said that their iPhone 4 performed well. iOS7 also raped the battery on my old iPhone 5 and Apple never addressed it. Overnight, as soon as the update had installed, my runtime almost halved and no amount of clean installs improved it one iota. I must have spent a hundred hours trying to get my battery life back to how it used to be.

 

[jrswizzle]

I want to make my vote clear.

I voted "other", but that "other" really is the "This poll is stupid" option.

You are not forced to upgrade. You are also not forced to hang on to a 3 year old device. New software = new features, generally new features require more power because they do more.

People who are upset by this are upset at the speed at which the industry moves, not Apple specifically.

I'd much rather be pushed forward than held back. If one upgrades every two years, one would never run into the issue of having a device "slowed down" by an iOS update.

 

[RebornProphet]

You sound like an Apple spokesman. The vast majority of people trust Apple and upgrade iOS without doing any research. The upgrade spiel states improvements, not slow-downs.

It's not helped by those on here who tell those who notice the slowdowns in UI performance that "my device doesn't do that".

 

[I7guy]

I dont know, maybe, but my parents are not tech savvy at all so they are in group of people who dont care, yet when their iPad 2 got ios 8.x they DO noticed something is wrong, so even non tech savvy people realize sudden drop of performance...

IOS 8.1.2 is better than 7.1.2 hands down. My non-technical SO never even noticed the iPad 2 was updated to 8.1.2 from 7.1.2.

----------

It's not helped by those on here who tell those who notice the slowdowns in UI performance that "my device doesn't do that".

The thing is not everybody experiences the same thing. I also think some people expect perfection from IOS and it's not going to happen; not now, not never.

 

[RebornProphet]

The thing is not everybody experiences the same thing. I also think some people expect perfection from IOS and it's not going to happen; not now, not never.

The frame rate drops are there, I tried three different Air 1's on 8.1.1 today in store and seen the drops on them all.

Some notice them more than others. Some people find the frame rate acceptable, others notice the slight drop from what they left behind on the previous version of the OS.