If you got your 3rd gen iPad when it was still being sold, then that means that you'd get 4 years out of that device. That's plenty of time. It's basically an iPad 2. It may have slightly better hardware, but that better hardware only exists to compensate for the Retina display so that the 3rd gen iPad wouldn't slow down significantly. But it's among the slowest iPads in retrospect 4 years, and 5 iOS releases is plenty of time for your iPad to get the latest software updates.
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Which devices will get iOS 10?
- Thread starter Math889
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If you got your 3rd gen iPad when it was still being sold, then that means that you'd get 4 years out of that device. That's plenty of time. It's basically an iPad 2. It may have slightly better hardware, but that better hardware only exists to compensate for the Retina display so that the 3rd gen iPad wouldn't slow down significantly. But it's among the slowest iPads in retrospect 4 years, and 5 iOS releases is plenty of time for your iPad to get the latest software updates.
I get what you are saying and do not argue any of it.
But I am the type of person who still has and uses his white plastic shell Macbook from when core2duo was brand new. It isn't fast but has a purpose in my life and continues to fill it, I will admit this macbook is far from the up to date OS X which has not been an issue. My real problem is I feel falling behind in iOS updates will turn into an incompatibility headache eventually forcing my perfectly good iPad 3 into uselessness. As I type this I realize the true difference between OS X and iOS is underlying control of files and systems. In OS X I am able to make what I need work. In iOS i will be merciless to Apples ridiculous OS control.
EDIT: but I also just realized I am preaching the same cry that has been done over and over again as peoples' devices become no longer supported. Its not a new problem, but damn is it frustrating and wasteful.
Interesting a very good case that a legit reason for iOS 10 becoming 64bit only
I understand that. I myself stuck with a 2008 iMac with a Core 2 Duo processor for 7 years. But technology moves forward. Technically, OS X El Capitan still supports that 2008 iMac, so I gave it to my sister, while I myself upgraded to a 5K iMac with a Skylake processor. I knew that the 2008 iMac would be on its last legs with El Capitan, and it could no longer do the tasks I needed to do. So I upgraded it.
Unfortunately, iOS is such a new platform, and phones and tablets are evolving at such a rapid pace. PCs, on the other hand, are the opposite. They are evolving at an ever slower pace. Hence, Apple could support the MacBook Pro and iMac models from nine years ago with OS X.
A 2015 27 inch iMac with Retina 5K display is only twice as fast as the 2010 27 inch iMac with a similar Core i7 processor. A 2015 iPhone 6S, however, is 20 times faster than a 2010 iPhone 4. The mobile arena is booming and evolving at such a rapid pace, while the PCs are not. It's not some conspiracy or anything. This is just an unfortunate reality with how things are with mobile right now. Get used to it.
Your theory makes sense, but I think it's more iPhone-centric like this:
iPhone: 3 versions
iPhone 3G: 3 versions
iPhone 3GS: 4 versions
iPhone 4: 4 versions
iPhone 4s: 5 versions
iPhone 5: 5 versions?
As long as the hardware is as good as the corresponding phone then it gets updated. (The original iPad I'm not sure of, wasn't it slow? Lack of RAM?) I just don't see how they could give the 5 a shorter lifespan than 4s. Not to mention the 5c. And drop multiple chips at once? The A6 is much more capable than A5, it's just not 64-bit.
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The newer iPhones getting supported for more than three versions of iOS is a mere coincidence, and is due to the fact that Apple would sell 1-2 generation-old iPhones, thus being forced to support them. Example: iPhone 3G was supported with iOS 4, despite having almost identical hardware to the original iPhone. (The original iPhone did not support iOS 4) They HAD to support the 3G, because Apple still SOLD the 3G when they unveiled iOS 4. The iPhone 3G was dropped with iOS 5, because the 3GS replaced the iPhone 3G as the $99 iPhone when the iPhone 4 came out. However, when the iPhone 4S was unveiled, Apple sold the 3GS for an additional year as a "free" iPhone, until the iPhone 4 replaced it in 2012.
So, the 3GS was supported for an additional year… because it was sold for an additional year.
The iPhone 4 was supported for four iOS releases, just like the 3GS, because it, too, was sold for an additional year as a "free" iPhone.
Why, then, was the iPhone 4S supported for yet another iOS release? Again, coincidence. Apple still sold the iPad mini and the 5th gen iPod Touch, which used the same hardware as the 4S. These products only got an additional year of support with iOS thanks to coincidental circumstances with other devices. There's no "magic pattern." The iPad 2 and the iPhone 4S simply got lucky because of Apple selling other very-similarly-spec'ed devices.
One cannot use the 4S as an example, because the iPhone 5 doesn't have many other similarly-spec'ed devices. There's the iPhone 5C (Which was basically just an iPhone 5 in plastic sold at a $100 discount), and the 4th gen iPad. Apple no longer sells these devices, so the circumstances aren't anything like the iPhone 4S being supported with iOS 9.
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It's not really a fair comparison because there are only two A6 devices, iPhone 5 and 5c, and the A6X iPad 4. There are five A5(X) devices and four A7. They're gone because they've been succeded several times. Device lifespans are getting longer so they'll be supporting products they don't currently sell. They do it with Macs already. Additionally the iPad 2 has run iOS 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Customers have come to expect a certain amount of support and dropping things unexpectedly could cause backlash. We'll have to wait and see.
Exactly. Why do you think there were only a few A6 devices? The iPod Touch 5th gen and iPad mini were based on an A5, despite being released a year after the first A5 devices hit the market (And were released ALONGSIDE devices like the 4th gen iPad and iPhone 5, which were based on the A6). After that, we didn't get an iPod Touch refresh until last summer with an A8 chip, and the second generation iPad mini that was released a year after the first one jumped straight to the A7. The A6 was barely around, because clearly the A7 kind of made it irrelevant.
I don't think customers "expect" anything, because there are many who, provided the iPad 2 won't support iOS 10, will still keep their iPad 2, because it "still works just fine" running iOS 9. Sure, it won't be popular for them to discontinue the so many devices… but Apple has done this with their Mac lineup, too. Sometimes you get Macs like the 2006 iMac which came with OS X Tiger and were supported up to OS X Lion… and then you get others like the 2007 iMacs that were supported… much longer, up until El Capitan. Sometimes certain devices are just supported longer than others. This doesn't indicate some sort of "pattern" with how long Macs get supported, and it doesn't mean that each successive Mac will get supporter longer and longer consecutively. It just means that certain devices get lucky with a CPU/GPU setup that can last a lot longer than others.
The iPad 2 hardware was just lucky enough to be supported for so long, because other devices ended up launching later with the same hardware. This doesn't necessarily set any precedent… it doesn't mean that the iPad 4th gen will have a similar lifespan in terms of software updates. Besides which, should the 4th gen iPad be discontinued this year, this means that it would've been supported for four years. That's already a rather long lifespan, considering iOS and Android tend to evolve at such a rapid pace. It may not be as long as the iPad 2's five and a half years, but it's still long enough.
all of them just look too good to believe. Yet, all what you state here will come eventually, at a time point different from yours.
But, none of us work for Apple I am pretty sure. So let's see.
I am still using my 2009 macbook which is running 10.10.4 just fine without an issue, also have an iPad 2 running 9.3.1 just fine as well as a iPhone 4s that is running iOS 9.3.1 without a problem and has great battery life
My $.02 is that iOS 10 will be a bigger milestone like iOS 7 (maybe not as much visually but functionally) and will take advantage of features like 3DTouch more. I think the 5s and iPad Air will be the oldest devices to support iOS 10.
If the iPad 2 goes, so does the 3. Far more people use the iPad 2 (19(?) percent of iPad users on the 2, vs around 8 percent on the 3) and it outperforms the 3 graphically and in processing power (just slightly). It does have more ram, but I don't know how much of that is left after the Retina display chews it up. Essentially if the iPad 3 gets support so does the 2 and if the 2 goes, so does the 3. However that is talking in capability terms, because Apple could cut off devices for arbitrary reasons. If it was done purely on technological capability, I think the Touch 5 and 4S would go first as they are the slowest A5 Devices.
There is only 2 devices take advantage of 3D Touch, mainly iPhone 6S and 6A plus. While you can count iPhone 7, iPhone 7 plus or even iPhone 7 Pro... That still only 5. The rest iOS devices are not 3D Touch capable. So why dripping support me rely because of 3D Touch.
I think any A6 to A9 devices will receive iOS 10. A6 is perfectly capable running other 2 iOS updates
As is usually the case with flagship features. I think 3DTouch will become more mainstream with iPhone 7 and probably will receive more functionality in iOS 10.
If my assumptions are correct and iOS 10 will be another big step forward like iOS 7, we'll see only newer gen devices with the ability to upgrade.
iPhone 5C was sold until last Sepetember when iPhone 6S cames out. iOS 10 is highly likely available on iPhone 5C, because it will still be within a year time frame. I really cannot imagine Apple drop support to iPhone 5C.
Anyway, even if you look at big update like iOS 7, Apple really only dropped A4 devices. There is no history that Apple drops two generation of devices at same time. I cannot think any iOS 10 features would require Applw drop support of A6.
I would not expect Apple support A6 devices after iOS 10. However, iOS 9 is still running great on A6 devices.
Ipad 2 got IOS 4;5;6;7;8;9
I think Ipad 3 will get just one more IOS update
Ipad 3; IOS 5;6;7;8;9;10
Iphone 4s;5;6;7;8;9
Iphone 5; 6;7;8;9;10 maybe 11?
[doublepost=1464361880][/doublepost]The breakpoint will be 1GB of RAM .
[doublepost=1464362277][/doublepost]I can say that because IOS 6 dropped the Original Ipad which has a A4 processor, 256 MB of RAM
and the Iphone 4 has the same processor , however with 512MB of RAM..
When IOS 7 was released , it dropped the 4 gen Ipod touch,A4 processor ,but not dropped Iphone 4 .So I can say safely that Ipad 3 will receive IOS 10 due to 1GB of RAM
I think Ipad 3 will get just one more IOS update
Ipad 3; IOS 5;6;7;8;9;10
Iphone 4s;5;6;7;8;9
Iphone 5; 6;7;8;9;10 maybe 11?
[doublepost=1464361880][/doublepost]The breakpoint will be 1GB of RAM .
[doublepost=1464362277][/doublepost]I can say that because IOS 6 dropped the Original Ipad which has a A4 processor, 256 MB of RAM
and the Iphone 4 has the same processor , however with 512MB of RAM..
When IOS 7 was released , it dropped the 4 gen Ipod touch,A4 processor ,but not dropped Iphone 4 .So I can say safely that Ipad 3 will receive IOS 10 due to 1GB of RAM
I think iOS 10 will be 64-bit only. It is time to drop a large amount of devices as they can no longer produce updates without any hiccups. Support almost 20 devices is just crazy. And last year they let developers to submit 64-bit only apps to AppStore. So trend for the future is clear-64 bit only, although it doesn't mean that they abandon old devices completely. They can continue to release security and jailbreak patches for iOS 9.
Actually, the 4S saw production and sales continued in India all the way up to February of this year (2016), which would fit the "only currently sold devices" pattern, if applied to a global scale.
Though it's true that the 4S and iPad 2/iPad mini are similarly specced as well, they've demonstrated that other similar specced models don't get the update while others do. See the original iPad and iPhone 4.