[1]: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/cor...
[2]: https://x.com/Little_34306/status/2031823581513204009 (Note: the link in this tweet goes to an exploit page that uses code repurposed from malware)
Thanks Google for forcing their hand.
Related: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/cor...
iPhone 6s (all models), iPhone 7 (all models), iPhone SE (1st generation), iPad Air 2, iPad mini (4th generation), and iPod touch (7th generation)
iOS 16.7.15 and iPadOS 16.7.15: iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPad 5th generation, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, and iPad Pro 12.9-inch 1st generation
I’m sympathetic with your point, truly, but I also get why devs would aim at newer OSes.
Developers can easily use APIs introduced after their deployment target OS. So if you want to target iOS 15, but use APIs introduced in iOS 17, you can easily do this with a runtime check.
Many iOS developers choose to increase their deployment target, which accomplishes nothing for the user besides locking out older devices, while making the developer's life more comfortable (he can abandon those runtime checks and code paths that only run on older devices).
But if you are disciplined and care about your users on old devices, you can very easily target those old devices while still using the latest and greatest OS features on devices that have them.
This makes me wonder though how Apple seems to deal with this for their core apps.
Maybe something the EU could enforce is requiring Apple to offer the 'last compatible version' prompt for all users, not just previous downloaders, ensuring older hardware isn't artificially artificially rendered useless for basic tasks.
For comparison, the Nexus 6P was released in the same year as the iPhone 6S. It last received a security update in 2018.
Apple decided to not patch a couple of iphones and ipads a few years ago. 6s was the oldest one at that time but even that was still within the update window.
The fact that they now have to patch them 3-4 year after the discovery because Google found them to be targeted in the wild should not be presented as a win for Apple.
This sort of spurious patching and releasing token cheap devices is a form of gaslighting.
Apple is rapidly becoming the new Microsoft. I mean, Microsoft has fallen so much further, so I guess that just opened up a new gap in the shitty technology spectrum for Apple to descend to.
(Still a common W for Apple updates)
I won’t argue that they charge a premium for memory and nvme, but I have never felt like I overpaid for my MacBooks or iPhones, in part because they last so long.
Flagship phones are expensive. Apple mostly just does not make low-spec phones, and cheap phones are generally low-spec (or their makers would charge more).
