iOS 12 and planned obsolescence

[bill-p]

While iOS 12 most definitely isn't junk, it does not warrant the number 12 either.

It's more like iOS 11.5. More refinements, optimizations, and some small features added.

A true iOS 12 needs to have something major added into it.

Now, if Apple is planning major versions every year regardless of features being added or not, then that makes iOS even more unreliable because it's completely unpredictable what will come out or whether there is even any hint of guarantee for the things that come out to be "stable" and "reliable."

iOS 12 sets a dangerous precedence.

Imagine iOS 13 introducing a new ground-breaking UI/UX in 2020, then iOS 14 and iOS 15 are bug fixes and performance improvements for that UI. Not so pretty, is it?

 

[NoBoMac]

Although less common on recent iOS releases...they actually have a long history of making OSes faster. For those of us that have been users since before OS X, we are used to performance releases, and newer OSes getting faster on the same hardware.

This.

Was able to catch the tail-end of the CPU utilization improvements section. Big concern for me on this is what will battery life be like under this. Think the analogy of a car and jumping off the line from a stop vs slow and steady acceleration: option 1 is bad for MPG. Can imagine the howls going forward of "performance is crisp, but my battery life is worse now with iOS 12. Fix my battery life!".

Again, just because various things that aren't of interest to some are out, certainly doesn't make for total junk, let alone be the epitome of it,

True. Have not had a chance to watch in full, but, quick scan of the liveblogs, I've been wanting the situational Do Not Disturb. The Siri hooks (aka iOS Automator) looks promising. Then again, I'm old and can remember the days of punch cards and 70x32 CRT terminals, so, anything more than that is a blessing.

 

[C DM]

While iOS 12 most definitely isn't junk, it does not warrant the number 12 either.

It's more like iOS 11.5. More refinements, optimizations, and some small features added.

To be fair, that kind of sentiment gets shared by at least some pretty much with any major update (even beyond iOS).

iOS 12 sets a dangerous precedence.

Imagine iOS 13 introducing a new ground-breaking UI/UX in 2020, then iOS 14 and iOS 15 are bug fixes and performance improvements for that UI. Not so pretty, is it?

Kind of like things happened with iOS 7 and then 8 and 9, for example? Or prior to that with iOS 4 and then 5 and 6, or later with iOS 10 followed by 11 and 12? Not much of a precedent is really being set at this point given that it's more of a fairly established pattern (in one sense or another) that is being followed.

 

[bill-p]

To be fair, that kind of sentiment gets shared by at least some pretty much with any major update (even beyond iOS).

This is not a sentiment. It's just fact. Name one major iOS release where performance is the only focus, with some features tacked on as "updates."

AFAIK, every major iOS release has had some form of UI revision and/or major features added, not refinements and adjustments of what was there to begin with. iOS 12 is breaking the trend.

So unless I'm mistaken, Apple is throwing in the towel here and essentially going "*** it, we aren't gonna revise the UI or add anything new, we'll spend the next year fixing iOS 11."

 

[C DM]

iOS 12 sets a dangerous precedence.

Imagine iOS 13 introducing a new ground-breaking UI/UX in 2020, then iOS 14 and iOS 15 are bug fixes and performance improvements for that UI. Not so pretty, is it?

Kind of like things happened with iOS 7 and then 8 and 9, for example? Or prior to that with iOS 4 and then 5 and 6, or later with iOS 10 followed by 11 and 12? Not much of a precedent is really being set at this point given that it's more of a fairly established pattern in a sense that is being followed to one degree or another.

This is not a sentiment. It's just fact. Name one major iOS release where performance is the only focus, with some features tacked on as "updates."

AFAIK, every major iOS release has had some form of UI revision and/or major features added, not refinements and adjustments of what was there to begin with. iOS 12 is breaking the trend.

So unless I'm mistaken, Apple is throwing in the towel here and essentially going "*** it, we aren't gonna revise the UI or add anything new, we'll spend the next year fixing iOS 11."

iOS 9

And it seems like a good amount of stuff is getting changed in one way or another in iOS 12 beyond performance: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-12-preview/features/ Certainly doesn't come off as being significantly different than various other releases.

 

[jonnyb098]

The irony here is that Apple just admitted for the last 5 years (since iOS 7) that they haven't been properly optimizing their software.

Not sure weather to be happy, sad or confused.

 

[macintoshmac]

While the improvements look good, who is to say nothing was done for older devices at all, and that if nothing was truly done then the implements would have been on the order 3x magnitude even more than these?

You cannot win with him till the damn home button works like he wants.

 

[Michael Goff]

This isn’t the first time they’ve touted performance improvements as a big focus of iOS.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Too late. I waited a whole year for 4 revisions of iOS 11 but enough is enough. Swapped the sim card into my Android development phone and switched to using it full time last month.

Not gonna bother with a holy war on which device is better... my iPhone X or the Android device. But... just to say, it's already too late.

If not because I need the iPhone X for development, it would be gone already.

#ByeFelecia
[doublepost=1528142031][/doublepost]

Google: Watch this demo of our AI assistant place a phone call to a human and make an appointment.

Apple: This year, we're taking Animoji to a whole new level with breakthrough new technology we call Tongue Detection.

One is the beginnings of Skynet and the other is something silly. Guess which I'll take all day, erryday?

 

[ediks]

The irony here is that Apple just admitted for the last 5 years (since iOS 7) that they haven't been properly optimizing their software.

Not sure weather to be happy, sad or confused.

ios 9 was also focused on perfomance like the 12

 

[profets]

Google: Watch this demo of our AI assistant place a phone call to a human and make an appointment.

Apple: This year, we're taking Animoji to a whole new level with breakthrough new technology we call Tongue Detection.

Google: Look at some of these concept tech demos and features of our updated OS which maybe 5% of android users will get access to if 3rd party manufacturers dont ruin in 18 months from now.

Apple: This year we’re updating all our OSes with these features that everyone will have access to and be able to use in 3 months.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

While iOS 12 most definitely isn't junk, it does not warrant the number 12 either.

It's more like iOS 11.5. More refinements, optimizations, and some small features added.

A true iOS 12 needs to have something major added into it.

Shortcuts and Siri seem pretty major over from here, bub.

Imagine iOS 13 introducing a new ground-breaking UI/UX in 2020, then iOS 14 and iOS 15 are bug fixes and performance improvements for that UI. Not so pretty, is it?

Allow me to introduce you to iOS 7, then 8, and then 9.

 

[C DM]

The irony here is that Apple just admitted for the last 5 years (since iOS 7) that they haven't been properly optimizing their software.

Not sure weather to be happy, sad or confused.

Realistically it's more or less how it works in many industries a lot of the time. New stuff gets optimized for new things and then some level of figuring out happens as to how much time and resources can be spent on optimizing things for older devices and testing it all against everything. Sometimes some do more while other do less, and sometimes it differs from release to release or year to year, depending on priorities and/or what else is going on internally and in the industry in general.

 

[Kardinal1911]

Too late. I waited a whole year for 4 revisions of iOS 11 but enough is enough. Swapped the sim card into my Android development phone and switched to using it full time last month.

Not gonna bother with a holy war on which device is better... my iPhone X or the Android device. But... just to say, it's already too late.

If not because I need the iPhone X for development, it would be gone already.

Buh bye

 

[AmazingTechGeek]

ios 9 was also focused on perfomance like the 12

The improvements weren’t all that tangible though. Apps did not load faster.

 

[oldmacs]

For all the years people have been claiming “new APIs” and “new features” are causing old phones to slowdown, I’d like to say that that theory is looking less and less believable. After the announcement of iOS 12, it’s more than possible to fully support older devices in their full potential.

Now that Apple has its PR backs against the wall with the battery throttle scandal, they magically created software capable of faster performance on older phones. This is the first time they have ever done this. Coincidence? I think not.

Apple loves when people update their devices, but they love their brand even more. Now that the brand is under attack, they are doing everything in their power to win over the trust of their consumers. iOS 12 is proof of this.

Let’s see iOS 12 actually perform well first. Apple saved all the planned obsolescence this year for Macs by cutting support for 2009, 2010 and 2011 Macs. Very environmentally friendly Apple.

 

[CTHarrryH]

Unreal - not even out yet and people already think it is junk As with every other release what they announce may only be part of what is actually released in production. But people think it is junk. Last week people were saying they didn't want new features they wanted bugs fixed - so Apple announces that and now people don't want something to work they just want new features.
Personally, I think IOS 11 is the best IOS Apple has produced and I have faith the 12 will be great - maybe only 3/4 of the people here will still complain about everything and nothing

 

[eoblaed]

Now that Apple has its PR backs against the wall with the battery throttle scandal, they magically created software capable of faster performance on older phones. This is the first time they have ever done this. Coincidence? I think not.

The performance improvements, which Apple announced months ago would be the focus of this release, will be felt on all devices, not just old ones.

They gave examples of performance improvements on old phones to let people know what they could look forward to. I'm also guessing, and this is just a guess, that the older phones will feel the improvements more than newer phones, which may be another reason why they chose to highlight those older phones.

I also love the fact that they're not bumping 2013 devices out the back of the queue of supported devices; that, and the significant performance improvements mean people with those aging phones should feel comfortable upgrading to iOS 13.

 

[ediks]

The improvements weren’t all that tangible though. Apps did not load faster.

Yeah they didnt actually , but Craig said that they should because of metal. You can rewatch the 2015 WWDC

 

[Regime2008]

Google: Look at some of these concept tech demos and features of our updated OS which maybe 5% of android users will get access to if 3rd party manufacturers dont ruin in 18 months from now.

Apple: This year we’re updating all our OSes with these features that everyone will have access to and be able to use in 3 months.

Why do uninformed people make comments, without an idea on how they work. Android phones have many more features than ios already baked into the phone. No update required. Also, the Google app would only need to be updated, not the whole OS. People who still say this really need to learn a thing or two.

 

[Radon87000]

This isn’t the first time they’ve touted performance improvements as a big focus of iOS.

This is the first time they specifically called out the 5s,6 and iPad Air. With iOS 9 it was more of boilerplate statements of performance being improved.

 

[jonnyb098]

ios 9 was also focused on perfomance like the 12

Right, and iOS 9 was garbage especially in the beginning. They even showed the exact same icon on stage today (speedometer) as they did then. The intro of Metal did virtually ZERO in perceptible speed even though it was touted as some revolutionary thing.

 

[AmazingTechGeek]

Yeah they didnt actually , but Craig said that they should because of metal. You can rewatch the 2015 WWDC

I remember all the details. I’m only stating my opinion that maybe smoothness improved, but not overall speed...particularly with third party apps.

 

[C DM]

Let’s see iOS 12 actually perform well first. Apple saved all the planned obsolescence this year for Macs by cutting support for 2009, 2010 and 2011 Macs. Very environmentally friendly Apple.

But planned obsolescence is about keeping support for older stuff and just making things work so badly on it all that people would get frustrated and would need to get something new.

 

[ediks]

I remember all the details. I’m only stating my opinion that maybe smoothness improved, but not overall speed...particularly with third party apps.

Yeah , i agree

Right, and iOS 9 was garbage especially in the beginning. They even showed the exact same icon on stage today (speedometer) as they did then. The intro of Metal did virtually ZERO in perceptible speed even though it was touted as some revolutionary thing.

exactly, i hope that the ios 12 delivers this time