Alas, however attached you may feel to your old reliable Apple product, you might need to start considering investing in a newer model earlier than you may think (or want) due to the company’s latest reformist announcement.
Apple has recently declared that they will be cutting off the support pipeline to anyone operating on iOS 11.2.6 and below on their Apple products.
This will mean that from some time in early May 2023 onwards, anybody who has not been keeping on top of updating their iPhone and other Apple products will become owners of devices in trouble.
This is a big step for Apple, the business that headed up the Forbes list of largest global technology companies for the seventh year running last year. Getting help to fix or operate older Apple devices has always been tricky. However, this will completely alter the company’s attitude towards dated devices and will give customers a much bigger push in the direction of their newer products.
But who exactly should be concerned by this news, and why has the company decided now is the time to cut off the dead weight made by bygone Apple products?
If You Have An Old Apple Product, Should You Be Worried?
Although this change has no specific date as of yet, Apple has disclosed that they will be cutting support from May. From this point onward, older Apple products that cannot update to iOS 11.3 and above will be rendered largely inoperative.
This news made headlines after trusted Apple source @StellaFudge tweeted: “As of early May, access to Apple services, with the exception of iCloud, will stop working on devices running: iOS 11-11.2.6, macOS 10.13-10.13.3, watchOS 4-4.2.3, tvOS 11-11.2.6”
But despite the attention this tweet received in the media, it came weeks after Apple Support released the news themselves in an online statement on March 18th.
This declaration announced: “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.”
But whilst this indicates that this could be an issue of simply updating your software (the statement was followed up by advice solely based on how to update your Apple product), the truth is that some devices will simply be too old to update and rendered largely useless by this change.
For some, it will not be a case of just updating their product and will in all likelihood mean needing to shell out for a newer model. As we all know, these devices are not exactly the cheapest on the market so may cause difficulty for many.
So, if you have any of the following devices, you may have some serious cause for concern:
- iPhone 5 and earlier
- MacBook Air (2010) and earlier
- MacBook (2009) and earlier
- MacBook Pro (2010) and earlier
- Mac Mini (2010) and older
- iMac (2009) and earlier
- Original Apple Watch
- Apple TV third generation (2012) and earlier
If you’re not entirely sure which model you have and are worried your device may be in trouble, Apple announced that any products that fall in this category will receive a notification saying if their current version will no longer support Apple services.
If this is you, you may need to start thinking about updating your software or treating yourself to a new and updated Apple (or other) product.
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What’s Going To Happen To These ‘Outdated’ Devices?
This change will mean that Apple will discontinue their support for online services including the App Store, Apple Maps and Siri for these products.
Whilst these devices will still technically function to an extent, this will prevent these devices from being able to install new apps, use an updated maps service and use Siri to navigate their product. Their software will be totally prevented from updating.
Whilst iDB has reported that 72% of all Apple devices are already operating on iOS 16, this report also shows that 8% of phones are still on iOS 14 or older.
It will primarily be this percentage of people that will be affected by this change, especially if they do not wish to or cannot afford to buy a newer model. Any companies that supply older Apple devices will also be hurt by this news.
Why Is Apple Making This Change?
Anyone who has had an Apple product for a while will know that the older your device, the less aid Apple provides for bug and security issues. If you, for example, have a retro iPhone, you may have already encountered problems such as not being able to have it fixed at the Apple Store or updating it to the latest software.
However, this will mark the first time that Apple will officially stop all active aid to older devices causing them to have their functionality significantly reduced.
For now, Apple has not released any news on why they have decided to make this change to their products. However, there has been speculation that it could come ahead of the company’s preparation for its most recent update.
The most recent Apple update iOS 16.4 came out last week. This update has introduced 21 new emojis, bug fixes and security updates.
As the Apple updates progress, older models will have increasing trouble adapting. Even newer iPhones can have trouble. Some people find that new updates drain their device’s battery life, prevent access to apps and reduce the loading speed of their product.
So, it doesn’t seem entirely surprising that Apple has decided that, with the release of their newest update, it is also time to cut off the support pipeline to these older devices.
Out with the old seems like the rallying cry of Apple’s latest decision as the change paves the way for a society of newer, faster, and better-supported Apple products.
The post Out With The Old! Apple Slices Support For Dated Devices, Is Your Product In Trouble? appeared first on TechRound.