Planned obsolescence? Older iPhones and iPads may lose access to vital services
Some Apple devices will lose access to many company services starting next month. This rumor comes from tipster Stella - Fudge, who has accurately leaked upcoming Apple information in the past. Per the leaker, some iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV models will not be able to run certain services from next month.
They imply that apart from iCloud, all Apple services will stop working on Apple devices running:
- iOS 11 to 11.2.6
- macOS 10.13 to 10.13.3
- watchOS 4 to 4.2.3
- tvOS 11to 11.2.6
- macOS 10.13 to 10.13.3
- watchOS 4 to 4.2.3
- tvOS 11to 11.2.6
Affected users will likely receive a notification from Apple to get them to update to a new operating system version, if possible.
This wasn't entirely unexpected. An Apple support document published last month (via MacRumors) said that some older software versions would stop supporting services like the App Store, Siri, and Maps.
Some older software versions will no longer support Apple Services like the App Store, Siri, and Maps. Update your software to the latest available version to continue using these services".
No reason was provided as to why these services will stop working on devices running older operating system versions. 9to5Mac theorizes that Apple might be planning a big upgrade for these services and this may create compatibility issues.
The move will likely impact only a small number of Apple users as the affected devices were released a long time ago. For perspective, Apple said in February that only 8 percent of the active iPhones were running iOS 14 or older.
Still, it will be a shocker. Apple has never done anything like this before and it would be a huge inconvenience for Apple users who don't have the means or the will to get a new device.
One of the great things about Apple devices is that they are supported for a long time but that seems to be changing. In fact, just yesterday, it was reported that the iPhone 8 and iPhone X will not be able to run iOS 17 and the fifth-generation iPad and the first-generation iPad Pro will not get iPadOS 17. Although another tipster disputed this leak, claiming that iPhone models running iOS 16 will still get iOS 17, it seems clear that Apple is gradually phasing out support for older devices
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