Does Apple need to publish an 'End of Life' roadmap for iOS devices?
Today Apple releases iOS 4.3.3 to fix the 'Locationgate' bug. While this update is offered to a whole raft of devices, users running the iPhone 3G, released under three years ago, won't be getting an update. Is it time for Apple to publish an 'End of Life' roadmap for iOS devices?
The iPhone 3G was the second-generation iPhone, released in July 2008. It was a massive hit, with Apple selling more than a million handsets over the first weekend. It was a popular handset.
But it has hit the end of the line. No more updates. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Not even security updates.
And there's the rub. While it would be fair enough for Apple to draw a line under adding new features to an old handset, the company is also drawing a line underneath security updates. Basically, when your handset is no longer supported, it starts to accumulate vulnerabilities. And the problem is, unless you're the kind of person that pays attention to things like software updates, you might not notice that your handset is rapidly becoming a hacker's paradise.
A handy solution for this would be for Apple to publish an 'End of Life' roadmap for different devices. Apple does publish a roadmap of sorts, it's on the first page of the iPhone product agreement [PDF]. It says:
Apple will provide you any iOS software updates that it may release from time to time, up to and including the next major iPhone OS software release following the version of iPhone OS that originally shipped from Apple on your iPhone, for free.
It goes on:
For example, if your iPhone originally shipped with iPhone 2.x software, Apple would provide you with any iPhone OS software updates it might release up to and including the iPhone 3.x software release.
The problem with this is that there's no clear timeline, something that says 'after such and such a date, your handset will no longer receive updates or security fixes.' That would be clear and concise. It would mean that owners wouldn't have to keep track of which iOS they had on the phone originally and what they have now.
So Apple, what do you say? How about giving us a clear, no nonsense roadmap which tells owners exactly when their shiny new iOS device will be transformed into junk?