Lookie lookie....iPhone longevity

[Jessica Lares]

I bought my device to do what it said on the box. I don't care about updates. I carried an iPhone 2G until it fell to pieces, and I did the same with iPhone 4.

My Nokia Lumia 520 will get the next Windows Phone update. I'm running the developer preview right now. However, I'm not going to complain when it doesn't get the next, because it still does what I bought it for to begin with.

If you obsess over the little things like that, you're going to be trying to find the perfect phone forever. After all, the original Galaxy Nexus is not getting the latest update, yet the new OS is optimized to work on weaker devices.

 

[cynics]

These arguments are only brought up by those that have never used Android or simply don't/can't understand it's update model.

iOS is updated but older devices don't get new features. Easy to understand.

Android devices are updated by the manufacturer of the phone so it's not nor could it be available when the code is released. Plus since there are manufacture skins new OS features might have already been done by the manufacture. Example would be camera from the lock screen, before that was built into Android certain manufacturers already had it....so why do you need to upgrade? Big hurry to get what you already have?

Then on top of that core apps are updated from the Play Store. So technically you are getting more from just normal app updates and manufacturer skins then entire iOS updates provide to even new devices let alone old ones.

And of course you could just go with a Nexus or Google edition device.

I use iOS devices exclusively now and even I recognize this. It's not a bad way of doing things.

 

[Michael Goff]

If you want timely updates in the android world you have to buy the right device

right now that is nexus, google edition, moto x/g, & htc one

And be lucky enough to not get the wrong Nexus device.

Remember that one too.

 

[Lloydbm41]

And be lucky enough to not get the wrong Nexus device.

Remember that one too.

Wrong Nexus? What do you mean?

 

[Michael Goff]

Wrong Nexus? What do you mean?

Neither the Nexus S or Galaxy Nexus got even two years of support. One of them was too weak, the other has a chipset that got abandoned.

 

[gotluck]

And be lucky enough to not get the wrong Nexus device.

Remember that one too.

Well, that was verizon if Im not mistaken. Verizon loves to manhandle android and lock it down.

Oh yes, Galaxy Nexus was dropped from support 18 mos after release, ti chipset or something. It does have kit kat roms though

 

[Michael Goff]

Well, that was verizon if Im not mistaken. Verizon loves to manhandle android and lock it down.

Oh yes, Galaxy Nexus was dropped from support 18 mos after release, ti chipset or something. It does have kit kat roms though

Yeah, you can flash an alpha build of a ROM. I plan on doing that when Cyanogen gets theirs done.

 

[Lloydbm41]

Neither the Nexus S or Galaxy Nexus got even two years of support. One of them was too weak, the other has a chipset that got abandoned.

Well, imagine how pissed I was when Apple basically told me and my 4 month old iPhone 4 I wasn't worthy of Siri. Or turn by turn Navigation. Or that my less than 2 year old iMac couldn't use Airplay. Or that my 18 month old iPod wasn't worthy of iOS7.

It's one thing for a company to abandon people to force them to upgrade if they want the latest and greatest features, it is quite another when a company that manufacturers chips decides to stop updating proprietary software. What do you expect Google to do in this case? There is nothing they legally can do. Of course, if people want KitKat on their Galaxy Nexus, there is nothing from stopping them from sideloading it.

I don't expect Apple or Google to support hardware that is 3 years old, like say the iPhone 3GS or Nexus S. But a phone, PC or tablet less than 1 or 2 years old, I do expect it to get the latest updates. And in that regard both Apple and Google have failed us in the past.

BTW, your comment about Galaxy Nexus not even getting 2 years of support is false. Much like some of the data in that chart above is not very truthful.

 

[pdqgp]

I think its kind of ridiculous that brand new Android devices are being launched with an old OS.

I'm sure there were iP4 owners pissed when the 4s came out and yet their phone wasn't allowed to take advantage of many of the new features. Nor was I upset when just a handful of months after the iPad 3 came out the 4th gen came out. Or was there any skuttle about lightening cable.....etc. Unlike Apple that has one platform of phone and can easily time their release with the release of their software, Android devices are made by multiple companies that all have different release schedules for both software and hardware.

Android devices are running jellyBean 4.1 which is a year and a half old and a shocking 24% are still on Gingerbread which is almost THREE years old KitKat has been out for about 2 months and its still only on 1% of Android devices.

iOS users are always so damn quick to jump on OS updates because it's about the most relevant thing changing in their world. The hardware is basically gone through mild refreshes. Besides Apple pretty much forces you to upgrade. My wife's phone has had iOS 7 downloaded taking up space on her phone for months now as she doesn't want to. Once you do, there's no going back either.

I believe Apple purposely restricts features too.

- Siri on the iPhone 4? It works just great on JB'n devices. Therefore, there was no technical reason for it to be left out.

- 60 fps recording on the 4S? Again, no technical reason for it to be left out under iOS7 - after all, the iPad mini 1 with exactly the same RAM and CPU has it.

- iPhone 2x antialiasing on the iPad 1 under iOS5 / on the iPad 2 on iOS5 and iOS6? There was no technical reason for it to be removed in iOS5, as is also proved by it being added back in iOS7 to the iPad 2 - 1.5 year after the release of the iPad 3.

 

[imaginex20]

Well, imagine how pissed I was when Apple basically told me and my 4 month old iPhone 4 I wasn't worthy of Siri. Or turn by turn Navigation. Or that my less than 2 year old iMac couldn't use Airplay. Or that my 18 month old iPod wasn't worthy of iOS7.

It's one thing for a company to abandon people to force them to upgrade if they want the latest and greatest features, it is quite another when a company that manufacturers chips decides to stop updating proprietary software. What do you expect Google to do in this case? There is nothing they legally can do. Of course, if people want KitKat on their Galaxy Nexus, there is nothing from stopping them from sideloading it.

I don't expect Apple or Google to support hardware that is 3 years old, like say the iPhone 3GS or Nexus S. But a phone, PC or tablet less than 1 or 2 years old, I do expect it to get the latest updates. And in that regard both Apple and Google have failed us in the past.

BTW, your comment about Galaxy Nexus not even getting 2 years of support is false. Much like some of the data in that chart above is not very truthful.

so you're telling me you want apple to stop progressing so that features across all devices are equal? Airplay was supported because of Hardware acceleration in the intel chip sets.

 

[Stuntman06]

Thats a tired excuse to be honest. Microsoft makes Windows while tons of other companies make the hardware, yet you can buy the new version of Windows and run it on any computer you have as long as its relatively new. Android updates should be no different. The difference is the greed between manufacturers and carriers. Manufacturers want to hold back new Android releases for their new flagships and force people to buy those and carriers want new releases held back too so they can make money off new contracts when you have to buy a new phone to get the new version of Android.

Microsoft does not make their Windows OS source code available for manufacturers to take and modify to include in their products. When Windows is installed on a PC, it is the same version with no modifications. PC manufacturers do not touch Windows, so MS can push their updates to all devices running the Windows OS.

Android doesn't work that way. The version of the OS on a phone is not the the version that Android has on its Nexus device or the one that is released publicly. Manufacturers modify Android and incorporate their own code for their devices. There is no way that Google can just push out a new version of the OS because the do not know what each manufacturer does to the code. You cannot compare Windows on PC's with Android on phones.

It's not just Android manufacturers that hold back features on older devices as well. Apple does the same. Before Siri came out on the iPhone 4S, there was a Siri app that ran on the iPhone 4. Once Siri and the iPhone 4S were released, the Siri app is gone. The iPhone 4 didn't get Siri in the latest iOS update. If you wanted Siri, you had to buy a new phone. You can't even download the app anymore.

 

[Michael Goff]

Well, imagine how pissed I was when Apple basically told me and my 4 month old iPhone 4 I wasn't worthy of Siri. Or turn by turn Navigation. Or that my less than 2 year old iMac couldn't use Airplay. Or that my 18 month old iPod wasn't worthy of iOS7.

It's one thing for a company to abandon people to force them to upgrade if they want the latest and greatest features, it is quite another when a company that manufacturers chips decides to stop updating proprietary software. What do you expect Google to do in this case? There is nothing they legally can do. Of course, if people want KitKat on their Galaxy Nexus, there is nothing from stopping them from sideloading it.

I don't expect Apple or Google to support hardware that is 3 years old, like say the iPhone 3GS or Nexus S. But a phone, PC or tablet less than 1 or 2 years old, I do expect it to get the latest updates. And in that regard both Apple and Google have failed us in the past.

BTW, your comment about Galaxy Nexus not even getting 2 years of support is false. Much like some of the data in that chart above is not very truthful.

Galaxy Nexus started with 4.0, then it got 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3. Each of them come roughly 6 months. But going from actual dates? The Galaxy Nexus was released in October 2011 and it got 4.3 in September. It actually missed out by a single month.

Next I'm going to answer the thing about Siri. At least you're still getting updates. iPhone 4 got iOS 7, right? I'm going to have to wait for somebody to make a ROM if I want it on my two year old phone.

 

[gotluck]

Galaxy Nexus started with 4.0, then it got 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3. Each of them come roughly 6 months. But going from actual dates? The Galaxy Nexus was released in October 2011 and it got 4.3 in September. It actually missed out by a single month.

Next I'm going to answer the thing about Siri. At least you're still getting updates. iPhone 4 got iOS 7, right? I'm going to have to wait for somebody to make a ROM if I want it on my two year old phone.

I dont know that I'd argue iOS 7 on iPhone 4 as a positive. I'm so glad I had my ios6/5/4 blobs saved for my iPhone 4 for downgrading. Not that I really use it anymore though.

If only newer devices could downgrade.

Its funny on android I yearn for the latest update and on iOS I usually want to stick with either the same iOS version upon purchase, or the second release. The third major releases performance tends to suffer.

IOS 5 was probably best performing for the iPhone 4. Well maybe iOS 4 but IMO 5 was worth it. It has choking moments on iOS 6 for sure that were only exasperated by iOS 7

On the other hand my gs4 Ge has only improved with updates.

 

[Michael Goff]

I dont know that I'd argue iOS 7 on iPhone 4 as a positive. I'm so glad I had my ios6/5/4 blobs saved for my iPhone 4 for downgrading. Not that I really use it anymore though.

If only newer devices could downgrade.

Its funny on android I yearn for the latest update and on iOS I usually want to stick with either the same iOS version upon purchase, or the second release. The third major releases performance tends to suffer.

IOS 5 was probably best performing for the iPhone 4. Well maybe iOS 4 but IMO 5 was worth it. It has choking moments on iOS 6 for sure that were only exasperated by iOS 7

On the other hand my gs4 Ge has only improved with updates.

Weird.

My iPad 2 hasn't has a problem with 7.

 

[gotluck]

Weird.

My iPad 2 hasn't has a problem with 7.

Ipad 2 is dual core a5 like the 4s. I do agree that iPad 2 works well on iOS 7 though on my wife's. Aside from low ram errors in safari that also happen on my air.

 

[Michael Goff]

Ipad 2 is dual core a5 like the 4s. I do agree that iPad 2 works well on iOS 7 though on my wife's. Aside from low ram errors in safari that also happen on my air.

That makes a lot of sense.

To be honest, I was confused as to why they stayed with 1gb worth of RAM.

 

[Menneisyys2]

My $1000 iPad 1 was obsoleted in 2 years. Unacceptable.

Exactly. Still, for some strange reason, the iPad 1 is missing from the OP's post. I wonder why (rhetoric question, of course, particularly because these graphs are generally published on highly pro-Apple-biased websites).

----------

That makes a lot of sense.

To be honest, I was confused as to why they stayed with 1gb worth of RAM.

To make their customers surely upgrade to the next year's model. Or, to differentiate from the rumored iPad Pro.

Either way, it's pretty disgusting they only included 1GB of RAM in a device where Safari needs tons of RAM and, consequently, always kills background tabs or even crashes.

----------

The third major releases performance tends to suffer.

I wonder if those major speed decreases are intentional on Apple's part. After all, iOS7 doesn't have much more than iOS6, kernel-wise.

Back in the iPhone OS 3 -> iOS 4 switch (and the MAJOR speed hit on the iPhone 3G), one could still argue "Hey, iOS4, even the dumbed-down (no multitasking at all) ARMv6 version, is much superior to iPhone OS 3, API-wise - no wonder the seriously resource-constrained 3G just can't run it properly". And he would have been, at least partly, right - for example, iOS4 was the first to have blocks, and tons of new API's, mostly the ones introduced to the OS by the iPad 1's needs.

No such major leap with the iOS6->7 switch. I, who have published tons of articles on the new iOS7 API's (mostly WRT the camera / multimedia), know the difference pretty well. In no way as many as with the 3>4 switch. Apart from changing the surface, of course - but it shouldn't have any effect on the performance.

Still, the iPhone 4 suffers a lot under iOS7, unlike under iOS6. I wonder if it's been artificially made slower to force people to upgrade...

 

[Menneisyys2]

It's not just Android manufacturers that hold back features on older devices as well. Apple does the same. Before Siri came out on the iPhone 4S, there was a Siri app that ran on the iPhone 4. Once Siri and the iPhone 4S were released, the Siri app is gone. The iPhone 4 didn't get Siri in the latest iOS update. If you wanted Siri, you had to buy a new phone. You can't even download the app anymore.

And that wasn't the only example. See for example the 60p (slo-mo) recording on the iPhone 4S. Or the antialiasing on the iPad 1 / 2. All removed by Apple to make people upgrade.

No wonder they're ueber-active over the Apple support forum. Whenever anyone enters a message asking whether a move of Apple is worth a class action/suit, the given question will be very short-lived. Generally, it'll be gone in 2-3 minutes. I'm, being an active contributor there, subscribed to several threads there and have seen this many time. (I receive mail notifications of every new - and still uncensored - posts of my subscribed threads. This also means I can even prove I'm right: I can post some of these original messages and the links to the now-censored public ones.) I've even checked several times whether the class suit part is gone immediately after receiving the notification. It was always gone in some minutes.

I wish Apple were as diligent and busy-working at actually innovating as censoring users' posts at their user forum. For example, let's start with
- Qi,
- true slow-mo videos (not the standard-definition, 640*360 120p joke the 5s has - the Samsung Note 3 and the LG G2 both have true 1920*1080 60p and the Sammy has true 1280*720 120p)
- wider-angle lens (particularly in video),
- Xenon flash,
- OIS,
- USB OTG,
- memory card slots,
- full, standardized Bluetooth support incl. OBEX file transfer,
- windowed OS on iPads,
- truly stereo speakers on iPads,
- f.lux (possible even on non-rooted Android devices)
- decent, high-quality HDMI output via SlimPort (not the Lightning lagging and lower-quality joke),
- Wacom support etc.

These are painfully missing from current iDevices, while they're all implemented by Android / WP devices. (Not all of them in a single device, of course. For example, the cheap Nexus 7 2013 "only" has Qi, truly stereo speakers, full Bluetooth support, f.lux-alikes, USB OTG and decent, high-quality HDMI output via SlimPort of the list. Still, it'd be GREAT to have any / all of them the at least 80% more expensive iPads / iPad Mini Retinas.)

 

[Michael Goff]

Exactly. Still, for some strange reason, the iPad 1 is missing from the OP's post. I wonder why (rhetoric question, of course, particularly because these graphs are generally published on highly pro-Apple-biased websites).

----------



To make their customers surely upgrade to the next year's model. Or, to differentiate from the rumored iPad Pro.

Either way, it's pretty disgusting they only included 1GB of RAM in a device where Safari needs tons of RAM and, consequently, always kills background tabs or even crashes.

----------



I wonder if those major speed decreases are intentional on Apple's part. After all, iOS7 doesn't have much more than iOS6, kernel-wise.

Back in the iPhone OS 3 -> iOS 4 switch (and the MAJOR speed hit on the iPhone 3G), one could still argue "Hey, iOS4, even the dumbed-down (no multitasking at all) ARMv6 version, is much superior to iPhone OS 3, API-wise - no wonder the seriously resource-constrained 3G just can't run it properly". And he would have been, at least partly, right - for example, iOS4 was the first to have blocks, and tons of new API's, mostly the ones introduced to the OS by the iPad 1's needs.

No such major leap with the iOS6->7 switch. I, who have published tons of articles on the new iOS7 API's (mostly WRT the camera / multimedia), know the difference pretty well. In no way as many as with the 3>4 switch. Apart from changing the surface, of course - but it shouldn't have any effect on the performance.

Still, the iPhone 4 suffers a lot under iOS7, unlike under iOS6. I wonder if it's been artificially made slower to force people to upgrade...

Not just that, but 64-bit means it needs more RAM in general.

 

[matttye]

Android devices are updated by the manufacturer of the phone so it's not nor could it be available when the code is released. Plus since there are manufacture skins new OS features might have already been done by the manufacture. Example would be camera from the lock screen, before that was built into Android certain manufacturers already had it....so why do you need to upgrade? Big hurry to get what you already have?

On the flip side, however, we were kept waiting ages for useful features like Project Butter.

Android update model sucks big time compared to iOS. Even the Galaxy Nexus, a fairly recent flagship, is not getting KitKat.

 

[Menneisyys2]

On the flip side, however, we were kept waiting ages for useful features like Project Butter.

Android update model sucks big time compared to iOS. Even the Galaxy Nexus, a fairly recent flagship, is not getting KitKat.

As has already been pointed out by others, sometimes no upgrades are better than forced, dumbed-down and useless "upgrades". Like the 4.x for the iPhone 3G, the 7.0 for the iPhone 4 etc. And you're forced to upgrade whenever your phone needs a full restore - unlike with Android or any other OS, where there're no forced upgrades.

In addition,

- Google do upgrade their apps fully independent of core OS upgrades. They run on even 2.x Androids

- for a programmer writing apps for Play Store, it's WAY easier to make an app compatible with old models / OS versions than with iOS. Under the latter, it's very-very hard to release an app that is compatible with iOS versions prior to iOS 4.3; that is, anything iPhone / iPod touch 1st / 2nd-gen. Under Android, it's orders of magnitude easier to support even the oldest OS versions.

- again, let me point out again that Apple routinely remove previously working and useful features like the 60 fps video recording in the 4S just to make people upgrade to newer models. It's VERY unethical - and, unfortunately, pretty typical of Apple. No wonder they're censoring user posts over at the Apple support forum THAT diligently...

 

[matttye]

As has already been pointed out by others, sometimes no upgrades are better than forced, dumbed-down and useless "upgrades". Like the 4.x for the iPhone 3G, the 7.0 for the iPhone 4 etc. And you're forced to upgrade whenever your phone needs a full restore - unlike with Android or any other OS, where there're no forced upgrades.

In addition,

- Google do upgrade their apps fully independent of core OS upgrades. They run on even 2.x Androids

- for a programmer writing apps for Play Store, it's WAY easier to make an app compatible with old models / OS versions than with iOS. Under the latter, it's very-very hard to release an app that is compatible with iOS versions prior to iOS 4.3; that is, anything iPhone / iPod touch 1st / 2nd-gen. Under Android, it's orders of magnitude easier to support even the oldest OS versions.

- again, let me point out again that Apple routinely remove previously working and useful features like the 60 fps video recording in the 4S just to make people upgrade to newer models. It's VERY unethical - and, unfortunately, pretty typical of Apple. No wonder they're censoring user posts over at the Apple support forum THAT diligently...

I've used both and prefer the iOS upgrade model. Updating individual apps is not even close to updating the entire OS.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I think both platforms have their advantages in terms of updates. Apple products get supported for longer but after the first update/ the major OS update the minor updates and subsequent major OS updates add less functionality as time goes on. On android your devices are not supported for as long but even with minor updates you get a lot of added functionality.

As for this ram debate with iOS devices, I think it depends on what you do with your devices. I go on the net, do shopping, watch videos, play a few games and listen to music. For that 512 mb of ram is sufficient. On my android devices, 1 GB of ram is a struggle. 2GB of ram gives me the same performance on android as I get from 512 mb on iOS.

 

[cynics]

Lookie lookie....iPhone longevity

On the flip side, however, we were kept waiting ages for useful features like Project Butter.

Android update model sucks big time compared to iOS. Even the Galaxy Nexus, a fairly recent flagship, is not getting KitKat.

You have a point with project butter. I waited for that on my Verizon Xoom (Verizon's caught but I still waited) and it did absolutely nothing that I could notice.

And obviously I disagree Androids update model sucks since I'm an iPhone user. For example I'll never see a feature added (bug fixes sure but no features) to core apps like Maps until iOS 8. Meanwhile Google maps on my Xoom is constantly updated with new features added occasionally without an OS update. Google will add new features to core apps that are even shared to iOS.

 

[mc3k]

If you want timely updates in the android world you have to buy the right device

right now that is nexus, google edition, moto x/g, & htc one

So much for choice.