Why does apple slow down old devices?

No one is forcing you to do anything. All updates, however annoying their prompts may be, are optional. Just like buying the products in the first place is. Apple's business model is what it is, if it doesn't meet your needs or you don't care for it, you don't have to support and you could very easily buy other products if you so choose.

That's right. It's all a big conspiracy. I guess that somehow, my iPad 1 and my iPhone 4 got skipped over, since they perform the same as they always have....

And, of course, it's not the millions of devices that they sell that keeps them in business. Or maybe those millions of people are all really people that have perfectly good devices that Apple has caused to slow down. Cruel world.

GB

safdwewwe wrote:

All they're adding at this point are bells and whistles that nobody except teenagers enjoy.

Speak for yourself. Don't presume that I don't enjoy some of the new features. I am most certainly not a teenager.

gail from maine wrote:

Do I get a foil hat with this so called "membership", or is it just another conspiracy to make me believe that other people believe in it?

GB

We will make a special one, just for you. Do you want it with a propeller? Or without?

No, they're not implying that Apple should cripple anything. That's the point - find a way to make our older hardware to function well (don't cripple it) while keeping their OSs updated for new hardware. As someone who has coded most of my life, and written machine language to control equipment, I know it can be done. Oh perhaps they would release separate updates for older hardware that kept security updated but didn't make the equipment obsolete. But the they wouldn't be practicing "planned obsolescence," that is forcing people to buy new products because the old ones just don't work any longer (oh my!), and their revenues would decline faster than they already are. By-the-way, General Motors practiced "planned obsolescence" in the 1970s and the Japanese car makers took great advantage of that moving into America and selling reliable cars to a public that wanted to buy value and quality instead of being held hostage by greedy GM.

NorthTexasRedHead wrote:

That's the point - find a way to make our older hardware to function well (don't cripple it) while keeping their OSs updated for new hardware.

Yes, that's exactly what Apple does. They don't make the updates available to devices that can't run them. The version of the system for older hardware doesn't have all the same features. However, there comes a point when attempting to make a new OS for both very old and brand new hardware would, for all practical purposes, involve forking it and developing two versions. That would lead to a giant mess.

NorthTexasRedHead wrote:

But the they wouldn't be practicing "planned obsolescence," that is forcing people to buy new products because the old ones just don't work any longer (oh my!), and their revenues would decline faster than they already are. By-the-way, General Motors practiced "planned obsolescence" in the 1970s and the Japanese car makers took great advantage of that moving into America and selling reliable cars to a public that wanted to buy value and quality instead of being held hostage by greedy GM.

So, if you have coded most of your life, then you certainly understand that computers and cars are not comparable. There is no "planned obsolescence" in technology - it is simply the nature of technology. You cannot invent and build a piece of hardware that foresees what kinds of breakthroughs and technological leaps are going to be made in the next 6 months let alone in the next several years. The actual functionality fundamentally changes. A car's functionality does not fundamentally change - it gets you from place to place inside an apparatus that has an engine and tires, and can run at a reasonable speed to allow you to get from here to there in a reasonable amount of time. If someone were to invent a way to beam ourselves around from place to place resulting in traditional cars becoming obsolete, that wouldn't be planned. Technology is the same way.

When the iPhone 1 came out, it made phone calls, played music, and had some cool apps that were unheard of on a phone before it was released. Now iPhones are basically miniature laptops. They do pretty much everything a laptop can do (with the exception of easy typing via a keyboard, which is why I only use my Mac to do any typing of anything).

But that evolved functionality is present on pretty much every iPhone from the iPhone 4 on. I have an iPhone 4 and an original iPad, and they can use iCloud, iCloud Drive, sync Contacts, Calendars, Reminders with all of my other iOS devices, automatically back up to iCloud, automatically download all purchases made with my Apple ID, be found with Find My iPhone, work as my Alarm Clock, display and edit photos, upload photos automatically to my Photos app on my Mac, etc.

So, they are by no means obsolete. Can I use Touch ID, Siri, 3D Touch with them? No I can't. But do I have the same level of security with my iCloud and Apple accounts as I do on my other devices, yes I do. And as far a security to prevent unwanted intrusion into my device - believe me when I tell you that today's hackers are not trying to find ways to break into iOS 7.1.2 and iOS 5.1.1....their sights are set on iOS 8, 9, 10, and forward.

So, obsolescence is in the eye of the beholder. If you need the latest bells and whistles, or if you need to have the most current version of a game, or if you need to be able to stream your music, then an older device won't work for you. But if you are satisfied with the functionality of the device that was promised to you when you purchased it, then it is not obsolete at all.

GB

Apple DOES push updates to devices that cannot funtion well with the update, and they give no warning and no way to reverse the update.

Obsolescence is not restricted to mechanical devices and does extend to how firmware and software is designed to run devices. But you totally missed the point of my comment - the point is people get tired of constant changes and upgrades and eventually and that's how they lose market share... Apple sales are stale, read the financial news.

Apple could show their customers who only want to upgrade devices once every 3-4 years some respect by leaving out the latest bells and whistles that slow their machines down and just giving security updates. That wouldn't take much effort in coding. Instead they're losing those customers because they don't want the ones who want to buy new phones less often.

Banks and credit cards will often require you update to the latest iOS, in particular if there has been some large hacking event. So yes, security updates are important and older OS's are not supported by some financial institution apps. My bank in particular requires you to update to the latest OS if I want to bank from my phone - if I can't bank from my phone then I might as well have a flip phone.

...and once again, Apple's revenues are floundering and that pretty much makes my case.

I've thought the same thing. I have an iPad 1 and 2. The 1 is pristine because I've taken very good care of it. It's now useless. I can't watch anything on it because every app needs updated and can't be. Why does Apple do that? Why break my iPad that I spent a small fortune on, when I was so protective over it. And like yours, immediately after the last update on both, I can't even use the internet because it's so slow. If Apple wants us to upgrade and buy new so often they should drop the price to about $99 instead of $600!!! I wish they would let the ppl who make the apps keep their old versions without forcing them to upgrade. Pretty sad

Gramsgirl wrote:

I've thought the same thing. I have an iPad 1 and 2. The 1 is pristine because I've taken very good care of it. It's now useless. I can't watch anything on it because every app needs updated and can't be. Why does Apple do that?

They don't, the app manufacturers do, complain to them.

Apple DOES edit iOS updates.

Older iDevices always get less features and many older iDevices never, EVER get the new and coolest feature of an iOS upgrade/update and many older iDevices only get the basic, bare bones of a new iOS.

So, I don't know what your point is.

Plus, if your iDevice/s are slow, with even barebones iOS upgrade/update features, there are other things affecting the performance of you iDevice.

My older iPad 2 and 3 models are working just fine on iOS 9.3.5.

FYI, Apple is doing just fine. They are "floundering" with Billions in the bank!

My iPad 1 still works fine for me.

Hulu app still works!

Netflix app still works.

Crackle Video app still works.

Older YouTube app still works on my iPad 1.

Vimeo app still works on my iPad 1

TED talks Video app.

ITunes Video app still works.

Pandora Radio.

Slacker Radio.

All of these still work on my iPad 1

What video apps no longer work on your iPad 1?

If the same, but newer apps are on your iPad 2, you can still download and install the older versions of these same apps on your iPad 1 ( IF they are still available for download from the developer on Apple's App servers) and they should still work!

About 1/2 the apps I have current versions of my newer iPads I have on my iPad 1 and all still work and function similarly to their much newer versions and some of the newer/older versions of apps can still transfer data back and forth.

I have a little over 160 apps, or so, on my iPad 1 that still work.

Gramsgirl wrote:

I wish they would let the ppl who make the apps keep their old versions without forcing them to upgrade. Pretty sad

Apple doesn't force the people who make apps to abandon older versions of their software. That is a choice made by the developer of the app alone. So, you need to understand that this is not Apple's decision. The developers simply feel that it is not "cost efficient" to support multiple versions of their product.

Apple makes its apps work with old iOS's. My iPad 1 runs iCloud and Photo Stream just fine. The only Apple app that no longers plays with the new stuff is Notes. Well, just because Notes is not shared with other devices doesn't mean they can't still be used on the iPad itself. They can. It also doesn't have Apple Wallet, and I don't think it can subscribe to Apple Music, so it can't do new stuff, but it can do all of stuff that was originally provided for it. So, if you are referring to the latest and greatest stuff, then you have contradicted yourself. If you want new, you have to purchase hardware which will support it. This is not just a whim where Apple says, OK, let's not let an iPad 1 use Apple Music. It is a physical impossibility. The hardware is not advanced enough, or powerful enough, or fast enough or any other number of things enough to provide those kinds of services.

What you don't seem to be taking into consideration is that businesses run on what the market demands. With all of the new bells and whistles that progressively get more complicated and more sophisticated, we still get posts all the time saying "Why doesn't Apple do this or that?".

This is how technology works. Apple has no control over what the developers of the apps that are sold on iTunes do in terms of product support.

GB

My guess is you don't use your iPad 2 much as there were critcal iOS security updates needed over those last 6 years!

If I were you, I would upgrade that iPad, because there will be no more support for your iPad 2, in the Fall of 2017, when iOS 11 is introduced and you will not have any way to upgrade any apps in the future.

Your iPad 2 will be forever stuck on iOS 5.

When new iOS upgrades/updates come out, not evey iPad model gets every new and improved feature set of a new iOS.

Most older iPad models, since about iOS 8, have not gotten hardly any of the latest new and cool featuresmof an iOS upgrade/update.

So, you are somewhat mistaken in the statements that you make.

FYI,

My 64 GBs iPad 2 (aporox. 18 GBs free storage left) runs just fine and dandy on the last iOS of 9.3.5.

Not all iPad 2 model users were affected by slow performance in iOS 8 and 9.

Banking Apps: Because it's a security issue and Apple is responsible for the security issues.

This isn't about keeping the latest update from YOU, it's about serving all of their customers. You're ONE kind of customer. The loss in Apple's market shares show they are not serving any type of customer but YOU.

End of my conversation because you fail to look at the issue from any point of view but your own. I clearly wrote it would be easy for Apple to serve both types of customers, the ones like you and the ones like me. But you're not happy with that, nope, you won't be happy until you beat everyone into having your opinion. How dare anyone think differently than you.