Today, Apple announced iOS 17, which is the latest version of iOS and it’ll launch this fall. With the betas beginning today. One of the big questions was whether iOS would drop support for some older iPhones. And it indeed has. It no longer supports the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X.
According to Apple’s website, the iPhone Xs, and Xr and later will be supported. That means iPhones released in 2018 and later. Which is really good to see. That means five year old phones are still getting the latest version of iOS. Something that Android can’t and probably will never do.
This is why people don’t upgrade every year
The biggest reason why many don’t upgrade their phone every year, is due to Apple’s long software support. The fact that you could buy an iPhone Xs Max back in 2018, and still get iOS 17 on it in 2023, is pretty incredible. And it might even get iOS 18 next year.
Compared to the Android side of things, where we are excited that companies are promising three Android upgrades. And that’s after it’s already behind, launching on Android 12 after Android 13 comes out, etc. Android OEMs have a long way to go to compete with Apple.
Now keep in mind, Apple controls every part of iOS. From the software down to the hardware, so it is able to keep updating its phones for a whole lot longer versus say Samsung or Motorola. Who only make the hardware, and have to use components from partners like Qualcomm and MediaTek.
For those that have the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus or the iPhone X, you might want to look at getting a new phone. Now if it’s still in good working order, you can keep it. As Apple will continue to push out security updates to it, for a few more years. But if it’s on its last leg, now is a good time to upgrade.
2023-06-06 15:15:49