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dacreativeguy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 27, 2007
2,033
224
I thought Apple made a big deal about having to charge for OS updates on non-subscription devices (Sox regulations). So why is iOS 5 being released for free for touches and iPads?

Just wondering what changed.
 

LoganT

macrumors 68020
Jan 9, 2007
2,382
134
I think they didn't know what their business model was going to be in the beginning. At first they probably thought "charge for the update", but then maybe they realized they could make more money by dropping off support for previous iPhone models.

The iPhone 4S will probably go to at least iOS 7, possibly 8. If I would want iOS 9, it's time to pick up a new iPhone.
 

urtho

macrumors newbie
Jun 12, 2008
16
16
I thought Apple made a big deal about having to charge for OS updates on non-subscription devices (Sox regulations). So why is iOS 5 being released for free for touches and iPads?

Just wondering what changed.

From what I recall, Apple changed how they recorded the revenue with the change over to iOS 4 and therefore do not have to charge anymore, I do not recall any charges for iOS 4 on iPod Touch devices.
 

mathcolo

macrumors 6502a
Sep 14, 2008
860
16
Boston
I, for one, am actually quite pleased with the fact that OS updates are free for iPod touch users now. While the charges didn't bother me personally before, I know some others who own iPod touches that refused to upgrade to iPhone OS 3 because of the charge. In my opinion that just made it harder for developers who wanted to upgrade their apps to utilize features in iPhone OS 3, but didn't want to lose users.
 
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