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I am looking to purchase an IPhone 11 Pro Max, which is a lot of money for me...
I would like to know how long the Apple updates will continue to support the iPhone 11 Pro Max before the phone becomes obsolete.
any answers would be very much appreciated.
If you want the crystal ball version:
The 11 Pro Max was issued originally with iOS 13. In the general run of system release times and model support over recent history, an iPhone has typically supported 4-6 major system versions. So let's say 5. That would mean 13 + 5 = iOS 18.
iOS 14 came out last September. Apple has been doing annual iOS releases recently (that's not to say they couldn't change things, and they have in the past). That would give the 11 Pro Max about another 4-5 years or so of iOS updates. This would be in line with Apple's hardware support statement of 5 years:
Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty [was: Vintage and obsolete products] https://support.apple.com/HT201624
As I said, from my perspective even being behind an iOS release or two probably won't see essential deficiencies unless you absolutely must be up with all the latest stuff. App developers often support the last 2-3 iOS versions and I am still seeing updates to most of my iOS 12 apps in the iOS 14 era.
I would say that if it does last 5+ 2 iOS generations you'll be lucky. We have found that after about 5 years or so there's some hardware failure that retires our iPhones.
If you want the crystal ball version:
The 11 Pro Max was issued originally with iOS 13. In the general run of system release times and model support over recent history, an iPhone has typically supported 4-6 major system versions. So let's say 5. That would mean 13 + 5 = iOS 18.
iOS 14 came out last September. Apple has been doing annual iOS releases recently (that's not to say they couldn't change things, and they have in the past). That would give the 11 Pro Max about another 4-5 years or so of iOS updates. This would be in line with Apple's hardware support statement of 5 years:
Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty [was: Vintage and obsolete products] https://support.apple.com/HT201624
As I said, from my perspective even being behind an iOS release or two probably won't see essential deficiencies unless you absolutely must be up with all the latest stuff. App developers often support the last 2-3 iOS versions and I am still seeing updates to most of my iOS 12 apps in the iOS 14 era.
I would say that if it does last 5+ 2 iOS generations you'll be lucky. We have found that after about 5 years or so there's some hardware failure that retires our iPhones.
There is no difference between the two. If your Samsung phone is old enough that it can no longer run the latest version of it you are in exactly the same situation.
No one here can say for sure, but considering the 6s is compatible with 14.4, if you assume that one generation might be deprecated per year, the 11 series phones should get 4 or 5 more major iOS updates before they get left behind.
It also depends upon your definition of 'left behind'. I use iOS12 and apart from missing some questionably necessary features of newer iOS versions I don't have any problems with using my device for most things. So mabe add another two years or so.
Thank you for this... makes sense now....
the hardware failure issue upon age of devise and out of date software, doesn’t seem fair to me...
how come if you are to buy an android, you don’t have this short life span to have to think about...
Considering that Android is an operating system and not a phone your statement doesn't make sense. Many people with phones that run android don't have an update available during the life of the phone and when one does come available 4 years or so later they cannot run it.
Thanks for getting back, appreciate it.
If I had a Samsung for example which is an android. I wouldn’t have to worry about the software expiry date as would someone who owns an iphone.
I still think that’s the downside to owning an iPhone.
It depends upon what you mean by expiring. I use an iPad with iOS9 on it. For what I need to do with it, that works for me even though Apple stopped updating an iOS for it several years ago. I had two other devices also with iOS 9 but the hardware failed on those a couple of years ago.
Basically I just want to roughly know that if I’m committing to buying an £1100 phone, will it stop working for me in like 3-4 years of purchasing it due to incomparable software updates...
FUTURE OS UPDATES ON IPHONE 11 pro max
