Why does apple slow down old devices?

NorthTexasRedHead wrote:

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.

How dare we not agree with you? Really?

The point being made is, why does Apple FORCE upgrades on people in order to continue using iTunes, for example. Or why would Apply apply incremental updates to say, iOS 10, in the knowledge that it slows them to almost unusable speeds? If the tablet worked like that straight out of the box, people would return it.

There has been a longstanding suspicion of Apple that it is being done deliberately, planned obsolescence. Apple don't want your fantastic phone or tablet to remain fantastic for too long, else they can't sell you another one.

<Edited by Host>

Again, rubbish.

You cannot install the operating system of your choice on an Apple iOS device.

You have to install upgrades to remain safe from security vulnerabilities. Apple is slipping code in that gradually slows down each device.

Are you SERIOUSLY suggesting that newer operating systems are massively more resource hungry? Isn't that backward-thinking?

FrancisJPG wrote:

There has been a longstanding suspicion of Apple that it is being done deliberately, planned obsolescence. Apple don't want your fantastic phone or tablet to remain fantastic for too long, else they can't sell you another one.

Yes, there's been a long standing suspicion that Apple slows down older devices. Yes, there has been a suspicion that people get abducted by aliens. Suspicions are not proof.

Forced obsolenscence is a myth. Proof please.

On the other hand you stated "built-in" obsolenscence.

This is different.

Techniically, ANY product you purchase has "built-in" obsolescence.

It's just how long will you have ANY product (talking cars, household appliances, computers, watches, media players, TVs, whatever) before that product becomes unsupported or obsoleted by a new and "improved" version.

Unfortunatley with ANY mobile electronic devices, NOT just Apple's, obsolenscence and unsupported computing devices come much quicker than most average users are comfortable or willing to deal with.

Forced or your "built-in obsolescence" term is NOT any different with Windows Surface devices, Google devices or ANY smartphone/cellphone device manufacturer.

With Google Android devices, I will even argue that the forced, "built-in" obsolescence timeframe is even quicker than Apple's!

Besides

Mobile electronics and mobile OSes are no diffrerent from a full blown computer and computer OSes.

The software requirements exceed older hardware to run tasks that newer computing devices can do with ease.

A 8-12 year computer is NOT going to run the latest and greatest OS software nearly as fast as a brand new computer model that was designed to run that brand new Operating System!

Computing and electronics technology has always been like this as moves at a much faster pace than any other industry.

People just can't except that these expensive mobile computing electronic devices aren't going to work or be supported for as long as a standard computer, which BTW, also only REALLY gets supported for only 5 or 6 years, too!

Users just hang onto their computers much longer, even though the OS does run slower.

Again older mobile devices can't support the cutting edge software that new or "newer" cutting edge devices can easily handle.

It's the way it is.

So, you can choose to upgrade your mobile hardware every 4-6 years or not and try to make do with the older mobile device until it finally dies.

I've got an idea for you. Stop using iOS devices. That way, you don't have to worry about security, and you won't have to be frustrated about an ancient device that is long overdue for retirement (if it is your primary device), not performing at the level you want it to. Landlines, Notepads, Dayminders, and other tools are readily available to help you to break free of the iron-grip of technology, and Apple, in particular.

BTW - my iPhone 4 continues to run just fine. It is at the highest iOS allowed 7.1.2, but it has never had any issues running on that software. My iPhone 5s runs just fine on 10.3.2, and my iPad 1 runs just fine on iOS 5.1.1....

I guess I somehow avoided the ever-present Eye of Sauron that Apple employs to keep track of who they need to tromp next in the never-ending quest to take over the world.

Lucky me.

GB

Apple isn't "forcing" anyone to update, but they pretty much harass everyone to do it with the alerts that pop up everyday. If they weren't trying to slow down their devices, then why would they put new software onto old hardware, when they *know* it can't handle it as well. Look at the iPhone 4. Lag in quite a few places, especially in messages. Look at the iPhone 4S: Boot times on the latest software are horrendous, battery life is down the drain, and doing tasks become more of a hassle. You can watch tons of videos and even buy a device yourself as proof. I don't understand why you must try so hard to defend a company that lost its true image years ago when Jobs croaked. Apple didn't have to design the newer software for older devices, but they did. Why? Because as soon as the devices start lagging in stock apps, people have to start considering upgrading when their device becomes challenging to use as a daily driver.

The 4 and 4S look about as crippled as Tiny Tim now. Perhaps everyone's experience is different, but I noticed a diminish in performance on the devices. I went back from 9.1 on my 4S to 6.1.3, and then updated back up to 8.4.1. Let me add, I would have kept it on 6.1.3 if the majority of appstore apps still supported it.. because it was lightning fast on that software. Also, I have an Air 2 and iPod Touch 5th gen as well and neither will ever go past 8.3. I also used to have an iPad 2 that I gave to a friend. They updated it past iOS 7 onto 9 and it's horribly slow now. I know what I've witnessed. I'll keep my speed and battery life, thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be checking online to find an iPhone 5S that runs 8.3, before Apple Music infected the software.

You're right about everyone's experience isn't the same on iDevices.

One of the things I ALWAYS DO is I never perform over the air, Wifi iOS upgrades/updates.

I have never trusted this method and I never will!

I, personally, think that updating a major device OS over Wifi is why many iDevices aren't running as well as they should.

Everyone's download speeds are different and local home WiFi networks can be spotty and cause errors in the data transmission of the iOS download and installation causing some of the poor slowdown issues with many older AND newer iDevices!

I ALWAYS DO iOS upgrades/updates connected to a computer using iTunes and I have never had ANY issues with ANY of my iDevices.

Been doing this for many years, now!

My iPad 2 and my wife's iPad 3 w/ 64 GBs (approx wo Gbs of free storage left) ARE running iOS 9.3.5 and it runs just fine!

We keep our iDevices backed up and our iPads optimised by never letting them dip below 6-8 GBs

The only issues are both older iPads take between 2-3 minutes to boot, which, admittedly, is annoying, but once up and running, both iPad 2 and 3 just purr right along on iOS 9.3.5.

I have no other complaints.

My older iPads aren't running at a snail's pace, at all!

Both of our older iPads have approx. 20 GBs of free data storage left on them.

They run iOS 9.3.5 pretty well.

My wife never complains about the speed of her iPad 3.

We both always complain about the long boot up time, though, but everything seems fine once the lock screen appears.

I don't why the boot up takes so long as those iPads, but they just run peachy, otherwise.

Hi, how can I go back to an earlier version and what version should I get for an ipad 2? I dont think Im going to buy any more Apple products. Thats sad because they made good products, but once a company loses the publics trust, its hard to get it back unless they did something to make it right by their customers. If someone grabbed my ipad and smashed it on the ground, then offered to sell me a new one, it would be insulting and a crime.

That entire post goes over the top a little.

Your iPad 2 was originally released in 2011. I have one too. 5 years is a very long time for a mobile, non-upgradeable device to stay in use. You're not getting ripped off or intentionally crippled.

Sure, look for alternatives. You will find, for instance, that Android tablets don't last nearly as long. They sure don't get software support for more than a couple of years.

The reason old devices are slower with new updates is because the latest software takes advantage of the fast current hardware, so that code runs slower on old hardware. In the future, you might research before updating. I read this article before updating my iPad 2 to iOS 9:

iOS 9 on the iPad 2: Not worse than iOS 8, but missing many features | Ars Technica

On performance, the article shows tests under the heading "Performance: Sometimes better, sometimes worse, mostly similar"

Also, there are a number of instances during the history of Mac OS where the upgrade was faster than the previous version, so upgrading does not always slow down the machine.

All I really do is use internet browser, email, and twitter. I dont watch movies, netflix, or download music so it should be able to run quicker than this... It closes the app im using like every 10 mins or so. The keyboard doesnt work right half of the time and is sluggish even when using the touchscreen at all... But then sometimes it goes back to normal...

Your not the only one i have a iphone 6 plus and its slower than when i first got it. I remember first getting this phone it was amazing the camera was perfect but now when i take a picture the camera comes out blurry my apps always kicks me out phone is extremly slow now than when i first had the iphone 6 plus. Before i had the iphone 5 phone was in perfect condition no problems at all always in a otterbox so it never had scratch it when there was an update for the iphone 5 my phone started acting up kept rebooting making the phone to a brand new phone and it never happen until the new update so they obviously slowing down people phone just so you can buy there new products. I believe a few yrs ago someone sues apple because of slowing down there phones and they apologizes but im sure they paid him off to keep his mouth shut and are still doing it till this day and also another proof i have is i have a friend that works for tmobile and she said they do slow down phone its not just apple but andriod also does it as well so there no reliable phone out there.

Hihater1991 wrote:

also another proof i have is i have a friend that works for tmobile and she said they do slow down phone its not just apple but andriod also does it as well so there no reliable phone out there.

Your friend has absolutely no idea what she's talking about. I worked for a much larger carrier for 20 years, part of it running a repair desk. That's nonsense.

Hihater1991 wrote:

Your not the only one i have a iphone 6 plus and its slower than when i first got it. I remember first getting this phone it was amazing the camera was perfect but now when i take a picture the camera comes out blurry my apps always kicks me out phone is extremly slow now than when i first had the iphone 6 plus. Before i had the iphone 5 phone was in perfect condition no problems at all always in a otterbox so it never had scratch it when there was an update for the iphone 5 my phone started acting up kept rebooting making the phone to a brand new phone and it never happen until the new update so they obviously slowing down people phone just so you can buy there new products. I believe a few yrs ago someone sues apple because of slowing down there phones and they apologizes but im sure they paid him off to keep his mouth shut and are still doing it till this day and also another proof i have is i have a friend that works for tmobile and she said they do slow down phone its not jsenseust apple but andriod also does it as well so there no reliable phone out there.

Nonsense.