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iPad 7 is 100% going to get iPadOS 16. No question about that at all. In fact, I'd be surprised if it didn't get iPadOS 17.
iPad 7 was listed in bold, which MR did not explain very well. The strikeout was a little more obvious.
If I continue to do business with Apple, I will never buy new again. My refurbished iPad is like factory new in appearance.
 
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I'm curious about what they would do with iPad mini 4(with the A8 chip and 2gb ram) that was sold until 2019. If they do drop it for iPadOS 16, then that would mean only 3 years of software support for those who bought it new in 2019.
 
Based on Big sur vs Monterey requirements - I would guess anything 2015 and earlier will be axed this go. MAYBE the Mac Pro from 2013 will see one last go tho
Pretty sure 2015 models will get a pass this time as they are still within 7 model years since introduced, they’re powerful enough and none of them come with NVIDIA GPUs, as the similarly equipped 2013/2014 MacBook Pros were.
 
I have a iPhone 7 Plus and iPad Pro (9.7”).
iPad Pro have 2GB RAM. If iPadOS 16 requires 3GB RAM, my iPad Pro 9.7” will come to an end of life………..
 
The iPad Mini 4 still has support because of its processor. Not its RAM. It has a 1.5GHz A8 vs the 1.1GHz and 1.4GHz found in other devices.

This article is speculation with incorrect assumptions all over.
I think its the RAM though. No supported devices in iOS 13 to 15 has less than 2gb ram.
 
Gotta agree. I think the 6s was one of the better iPhones Apple made. I knew a lot of people who still opted for an older 6s LONG after they could have purchased a newer model at a reasonable price. (You could get refurbished 6s phones really inexpensively at places like Walmart to use on pre-paid plans, and the small size was what some people really wanted.) I know the batteries started giving on many of them, but that was fixable.
My father-in-law is still using an iPhone 6s Plus (my old one) and seems to do just fine with it. He really needs a larger screen with his less than stellar eyesight. When iOS updates cease we may have to upgrade in order for his Watch to work well with the iPhone, but that’s it. Getting iOS 16 would be a nice bonus.
 
I think you are missing a "not" in your post.

Truthfully, I wouldn't be shocked if the iPad mini 4 is dropped. Even though I'm 100% sure the iPad 6 will get iOS 16, I'm not as sure with the iPad mini 4, since it's so far out as an outlier, and an older machine. A8 is slow.
Edited thanks. Yes either some requirement for specific ARM with 3 GB RAM might be forthcoming. Not like the existing iOS/IPadOS 15.5 isn’t viable with security updates for a couple of years. IPadOS 16 badly needs GUI and multitasking improvements. We were hoping for that in IPadOS 15, but that never occurred.
 
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Edited thanks. Yes either some requirement for specific ARM with 3 GB RAM might be forthcoming. Not like the existing iOS/IPadOS 15.5 is viable with security updates for a couple of years. IPadOS 16 badly needs GUI and multitasking improvements. We were hoping for that in IPadOS 15, but that never occurred.
I think you forgot another "not". :D

Don't forget though that Apple usually cripples the older devices with regards to the new features. That makes it easier for Apple to bring new features to the new OS while still supporting old machines in the new OS.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I'm typing this on a 2014 Mac mini on Monterey, officially supported. However, many of the whiz bang new features are not actually supported on this Mac mini. eg. Universal Control, AirPlay to Mac, FaceTime portrait mode, spatial audio, voice isolation mode, etc.
 
I'm curious about what they would do with iPad mini 4(with the A8 chip and 2gb ram) that was sold until 2019. If they do drop it for iPadOS 16, then that would mean only 3 years of software support for those who bought it new in 2019.
Unfortunately Apple sold it for way too long, released Sept 2015. I think three years software support for a product that old is adequate.
 
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IOS 6 years, Android 3 years of updates, We earn ios users twice as much. THANK YOU Apple.
Thanks for what?
I mentioned Linux in this thread. Ubuntu 22.04 (April 2022) is LTS. Long Term Support. Up front and promised for 5 years.
I seem to recall, Apple supports the current OS for Mac, and the previous 2, with updates. That may not be the case anymore. My iMac is very old.
If my 2019 iPad receives support for 2 years after the release of an OS I can't update to, that's fine.
I don't care about the new OS, just keep the security updates coming.
Amazon Fire tablets receive at least 4 years of updates after the product is no longer for sale on their website. HA! A $150 tablet. The OS does not change but gets updated. In my case, the product is not useful for 4 years.
 
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It’s great, a company dropping security updates for devices in the middle of a chip shortage and economic crisis. Devices that people need to participate in modern society. Maybe we shouldn’t give one corporation so much reverence and control over our lives?
 
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It’s great, a company dropping security updates for devices in the middle of a chip shortage and economic crisis. Devices that people need to participate in modern society. Maybe we shouldn’t give one corporation so much reverence and control over our lives?
We are discussing support for the next IOS/IPadOS 16, not security updates. Those are usually available for Apple products well past where the next OS is unavailable.
 
As a developer, I'm more interested in which iOS versions (and, by extension, which devices) the next version of Xcode supports, because that determines when I can no longer release app updates for a device model. I've seen that devices can remain useful long after their iOS updates end, but once Xcode drops support, I can no longer support users with bug fixes or compatibility updates. Unfortunately, this info doesn't get much attention and I have to dig around the Xcode release notes to try and find it each year.

Currently, Xcode still supports iOS 9, so I'm supporting devices all the way back to the iPad 2! Those are painfully slow now, and I often encourage users to upgrade, but it doesn't seem right to tell them they have to spend hundreds of dollars on new hardware when I can add a few tweaks to maintain backwards compatibility.
 
I don’t know but I’m thinking Apple is going to require a bionic chip or higher which would exclude the iPhone 7 Plus.

Well I’m more concerned about is what is the minimum system requirements for iOS 16.
Is it going to be Windows 7,8,10 64-bit and higher and macOS 64-bit Catalina and higher?
That would throw all the 32-bit computers under the bus, Right now El Capitan is the base which works for all iOS devices. A new iPhone might end that just as iOS 8 on the iPhone 6 killed support for the PowerPC.

I don’t think Apple is ready to throw the Intel version of iTunes version under the bus yet but that day is coming soon.
 
More eWaste for the furnaces, gov’nuh! The beast must be fed in the name of profit. Or was that progress?
 
I don’t know but I’m thinking Apple is going to require a bionic chip or higher which would exclude the iPhone 7 Plus.

Well I’m more concerned about is what is the minimum system requirements for iOS 16.
Is it going to be Windows 7,8,10 64-bit and higher and macOS 64-bit Catalina and higher?
That would throw all the 32-bit computers under the bus, Right now El Capitan is the base which works for all iOS devices. A new iPhone might end that just as iOS 8 on the iPhone 6 killed support for the PowerPC.

I don’t think Apple is ready to throw the Intel version of iTunes version under the bus yet but that day is coming soon.
I thought my Mom's PC was the last 32-bit OS alive. A Dell PC from 2008. It has a 64-bit Dual Core (not Core 2 Duo) CPU. It came with Vista 32-bit and I moved it ahead to W7, still 32-bit versus a brand new install.
Maybe I don't understand the minimum system requirements you are talking about.
W7 is EOL and W8.1 is EOL in January.
It is stupid for iOS/iPad OS devices to be dependent on another computer.
I have zero music files on my iPad, because I'm not willing to use iTunes.
Maybe I want a Chrome device or Linux.
No iTunes or iCloud.
I don't need those things with Android.
Importing images from Amazon to my iPad was a miserable experience. Difficult with Android too, but not as bad.
 
The iPad Mini 4 still has support because of its processor. Not its RAM. It has a 1.5GHz A8 vs the 1.1GHz and 1.4GHz found in other devices.

This article is speculation with incorrect assumptions all over.
That isn't really any less of an assumption.
 
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No way they will drop support for the iPhone 7, despite its 2 GB RAM. It wasn't discontinued until 2019.
No way they will drop support for the iPad 6th gen, despite its 2 GB RAM. It wasn't discontinued until 2019.
No way they will drop support for the iPad mini 4, despite its 2 GB RAM. It wasn't discontinued until 2019.
I wish they would, though. I have the mini 4 and it’s already sluggish on iOS 15. Don’t really see the value of “supporting” older devices if all it does is make them less useable.

The cynical take would be that’s by design, but I’d like to believe apple is not malicious enough to intentionally slow down older devices. And yet that’s exactly what happens when they support 5+ year old devices with the latest version of iOS.
 
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I doubt Apple would drop iOS16 support for two generations at once. I think it's likely they'll drop the 6S because of its 1.85Ghz A9 processor and 2GB ram. Coincidentally the ipod touch had an underclocked 1.64Ghz A10 and 2GB ram. The iPhone 7 will just get a gimped version of iOS16 given its 2GB ram but at least you won't get that dreaded "your ios is too old for this app" for an extra year...Consider it a stay of execution.
 
I wish they would, though. I have the mini 4 and it’s already sluggish on iOS 15. Don’t really see the value of “supporting” older devices if all it does is make them less useable.

The cynical take would be that’s by design, but I’d like to believe apple is not malicious enough to intentionally slow down older devices. And yet that’s exactly what happens when they support 5+ year old devices with the latest version of iOS.
Out of those three devices - iPhone 7, iPad 6th gen, iPad mini 4 - only the iPad mini 4 with A8 is a legitimate concern for SoC performance IMO. A10 in the other devices is still reasonably peppy. 2 GB RAM isn't great, but it's good enough at the low end.*

I did mention later though that I wouldn't be completely shocked if the iPad mini 4 got dropped, since it's such an outlier case (for sale for 4 years, and only running A8).

*However, I specifically refused to buy the iPad 6th gen. I waited another year and got the iPad 7th gen instead, precisely because I predicted it would get 3 GB RAM. I'm glad I did, not just because of that, but also because it got the Smart Connector and Smart Keyboard support. Bonus.
 
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