Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
iPhone 4...can it survive?
My iphone 4 is no longer able to update iOS software as a result of Apple's decision. Does this mean it will eventually fade away or is there no problem at all?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Finsbury Park Ranger on
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The apps will stop working eventually.
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Permalink Reply by Philip on
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Sounds grim. But Apple will have lost a customer thru this. I will wait until my crucial apps start failing(banking,Guardian, maps, Uber etc) and then switch to an Android system phone. Anyone see any flaws in that? I do like my iTunes library, but it is not exactly cutting edge any more.
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yes I found that I can download my itunes library to Android. Will wait until my apps start to get dodgy, but hopefully that will be some time.....
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Permalink Reply by Casper Creedy on
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You'll find similar issues with most types of phones to be fair. Android operating system only updates on newer devices too, though apps tend to work backwards on the majority of handsets. Its the same with PC's. Older machines can't run the newer operating systems due to hardware advances. Admittedly it occurs more frequently in phones.
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So the smarter the smartphone, the quicker it will end up being stupid. Is that yet a named law, to go with Moore's Law?
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Heh, no, I think its more of a marketing law, than evolving of technology. Apple like to release updates once a year with newer tech. Most companys (HTC, Samsung etc) do the same. its all about catching people at contract renewal, and trying to force the update :) but Moores Law sorta applies anyway.
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In general Apple seems to support iPhones for around 4 years from first release in terms of the latest system software - iPhone 3S worked with but not beyond OS6, iPhone 4 worked with but not beyond iOS7 etc.
It's worth noting that the phones carry on working (we having working iPhone 3Gs) - it's just they may not be able to use the latest versions of apps, as these may be designed to use features of the new iOS. If you download apps & their updates using the app store on the phone it should give you the latest version that phone can use.
Android is rather different, with many new phones not shipping with the latest OS, and many phones being hard to upgrade to new OSs - e.g. see this on android fragmentation.
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Apple considers any apple product over 5 years old as 'vintage' and no longer supportable. Which I don't see as a grave crime.
I do however think it's really interesting that there seems to be evidence that Apple seemingly slow down all their old phones during times of a new release. Someone discovered that google searches for things like 'why is my iphone so slow' are seen to heavily spike around times when apple released new phones. Apparently this is illegal to slow down an old service without consent to try to encourage people to buy into the new service but really difficult to prove in court.
Oddly, since that google evidence came to light, my experience was my old iphone for once wasn't hampered during the release of the iPhone 6 , so maybe they were caught red handed and felt it wiser to not try that trick on again this time ?
I think I'm right in saying for Samsung etc this isn't a trick they can pull off because they don't actually own or are able to control the android operating system like apple do. - Attachments:
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It's true that when a new iOS comes out, the oldest phone/iPad that is still able to run the system tends not to do too well on it (e.g. iPhone 4 with iOS7, iPhone 4S/iPad 2 with iOS8) - but I'm not sure this is really a conspiracy - it may be that they are more focussed on getting the system out than doing every last bit of optimisation.
They tend to bring out an update in the following weeks that speeds up the old device - you can also do things in the settings like reducing animation - e.g. see here.
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I guess one day we'll have this problem with robots, for a couple of weeks once a year, they'll stop being complimentary and start answering back and occasionally accidentally scratching the car, just when the shiny new model gets released dammit. :)
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Permalink Reply by James R Grinter on
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There's no funny business: Apple don't "slow down" your phone (that's all lazy, "click-bait" journalism - write something controversial, get the readers, sell the advertising). The new smartphone software releases - the inevitable, unstoppable march of software progress - just make more demands of your older hardware.
Between the iPhone 4 and 4S (just one year apart) there was a doubling of raw performance (Apple iPhone/iPad CPU benchmarks), and then a near tripling between the 4S and the 5 (one year between those) and so on. So it's hardly surprising that what runs well on the year-old model (which it has been most-tested on) runs slightly less well on one two years old, and worse still on one three years old.
If they're guilty of anything, it's that they keep the new OS running on the older, slower phones beyond the point that they're really usable, instead of offering security patches for older OS versions (so those with iPhone 4 would have been well advised to upgrade to iOS 7, even though 6 ran far better, because there were some very bad, privacy-compromising bugs that were squished only in iOS 7). iPhone 4 is now four years old, and now somewhat relegated to the 'keep around as a spare phone' role.
Samsung (and others) rarely update the (Android) operating software on their phones, so the owner doesn't suffer from newer software making increasing demands on the older technology because they often don't get the newer software at all. But that doesn't delay the progress of apps and their features and the end result is the same - eventually they won't be able to run the latest apps that require the features of the newer operating software or the power of the newer phones.
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