Now that the
iPad is out and
iPhone OS 4 has been announced, it looks like Steve Jobs is taking a little time to catch up on his email -- in addition to
taking up the new SDK rules, it appears he's very tersely confirmed what we sadly suspected all along: the first-gen iPhone won't get an upgrade to iPhone OS 4. That makes a certain amount of sense, given that Apple's
subscription accounting model for the original iPhone only booked free upgrades for 24 months, but really, that's just paperwork -- we don't see why Cupertino couldn't at least allow for an iPod touch-style paid upgrade, especially since the upgradeable iPhone 3G runs essentially the same hardware. And let's not forget that first-gen iPhone owners paid more or less full price for their devices, so if this is true, Apple's summarily dead-ended a $400 phone just under three years after it launched. Of course, none of this is officially confirmed yet, so anything can change -- we've pinged Apple for comment and they haven't responded yet, but we'll let you know what we find out.
[Thanks, Tanzeel]
posted April 12th 2010 12:42PM
That's some excellent customer service right there. Apple really knows how to keep its customers.
@dreamerkm
How many phone companies upgrade their 3 year old phones?
@dreamerkm And this is surprising why? Apple isn't the same company it was 3 years ago...clearly it has its sights set on something more than just placating a handful of customers.
@Sled
As even Engadget pointed out, it's essentially the same hardware as the 3G. Apple is just trying to push people into buying new ones.
@Sled incidentally they do let their three year old computers run Snow Leopard
@dreamerkm Yea... but its still better than the upgrade model used on just about all other phones. Before Apple came into the game, you really only got only one OS version upgrade, and that's assuming you got one at all.
Yeah, Apple sure has few customers.
@dreamerkm
the phone is 3 years old, and u get a new subsdized phone every 18 month.
@dreamerkm I agree.
Technology should come to a screeching halt so out multi year old devices can continue to operate on multi year old OS's.
Civilization would be the better for it.
@Sled How many companies claim they have the best product out there that originally cost more to own than any other device and then gets dropped on its face in less than 3 years? It's still speculative. However, this is really not something people want to hear regardless. Providing the 4G iPhone is something current users can get at a reasonable price, no harm no foul. Nonetheless, asking people to stay w/ something that could just as well be upgraded OR switch to the latest is just crap. I don't care if it's Apple or anyone else, it's still crap. Sprint has been crap for me in many regards, but when I look at my phone bill each month, I'm reminded of what they did to correct their mistakes, and how long it took to get there. Furthermore, what they did for me probably has me pegged as a customer for life so long as the tech gets better. Don't get too worked up here even though it sounds screwy....
Now shall I entertain some other mentions of Steve and Co. throughout history: "No Multitasking".
@hbueain Yeah, but that subsidized phone will run 200-300 more based on history and going with the newest model to get another 2-3 years of support. However, you have to add that plus more per month (legacy iPhones on a $70plan , IIRC or was it $60, with free text messages.) So, we can easily be talking a $600 investment where you were happy with your phone and feel emotionally kicked in the groin because a company wanted to compel you to upgrade.
It's almost like the whole "planned obsolescence" of the car industry that the computer and smartphone markets have been able to keep out of because you can get nearly unlimited mileage of a phone you take good care of and don't expect to be running on the best hardware available.
@Sled True. Although phones are turning into hand held computers. So how many computers can upgrade their OS ever 3 years... most of them.
I don't expect my $50 flip phone to get a new OS... really ever. But SmartPhones I always expected some support. Then Apple went and made the SmartPhone highly popular (yay!) and THEN gave free OS updates for it on a regular basis (yay again!)
So, Apple set the trend that your expensive phone gets upgraded. Of course users will be disappointed when they get cut off. So then comes the question, what justifies a cutoff point? 3 years? 2 phone hardware upgrades? That isn't made clear at the time of purchase.
@jmcburna
lol, every company that makes any product always will say "This is the best", why would you spend any R&D to say, well.. this isn't the greatest product out there, and you are probably better going off with this other company.
Please show me a phone that does upgrades to the OS when it hits up to 3 years in date, most phones don't even last 1 year.
@WhitecollarcriminalFinancial The 'or else' being getting myself an nice Android phone. Fark you Steve!
@Sled
Well, most of said companies do not have a phone that 3 years later looks exactly like models released successively for the last 3 years. Hence, the inferred support due to similarity.
@dreamerkm
The first generation iPhone/iTouch etc do not have the ram required to do multitouch and other 4.0 things. They barely have ram to run one application after the share the os takes.
@dreamerkm
Yes on the one hand, it isn't that hard for them to upgrade the iPhone, given the hardware similarities.
However, even though I am by no means an Apple lover (maybe even a hater in some case), even I can see that they have absolutely NO obligation to update your phone. Most manufacturers don't even give you ONE update, much less multiple ones over three years (even for smart phones). So Apple has actually has been quite good on updates. I think as Anatidae says above, it was actually Apple that set the trend of updating phones. Now everyone expects smartphones to be continually upgraded and I think Apple played a big part in that.
The contention is the cutoff point. I think 2 years after the last date it was official up for sale is a good cutoff point (since usually that is the contract ending date). Of course, logically the cutoff point is when the hardware actually doesn't support it anymore (which could be shorter or longer than 2 years, depending on the hardware).
@dreamerkm
What's the problem here? The 3 yr old iPhone will continue to work exactly as it always has. You want a better phone? Go and buy one. Don't sit around bitching that the manufacturer won't upgrade your 3 year old phone for free. You already got 3 years of upgrades for nothing on an 18 month contract. I had 5 phones before the iphone and I never got any OS upgrades to any of them. Ever.
What's the alternative, ask Apple to stop pouring money into new hardware and instead put it into upgrading old technology? We'd all be living with upgraded brick phones with that mentality and never progress. Hate to tell you but, when new stuff comes out, the old stuff is....old. Don't expect it to magically get better.
@Luxury Guy That's just bullshit. For example the latest update for Nokia N95 was released 18th of November 2009. The phone was released March 2007.
@dreamerkm
I bought a HTC Tattoo unlocked (unsubsidised from amazon). It was released in September 2009 (7 months ago).
It's had no upgrades whatsoever. HTC are making me stay on Android 1.6 (i.e. no bluetooth, limited app support).
That's horrible customer service, and I completely regret buying the phone. Look at how much the iPhone has changed from v1.0 to v3.1.3! That's why Apple can charge more; they do the whole manufacturer thing better for the iPhone than any other smartphone on the market.
Hey, at least my highness Steve says the word 'sorry'. that's already more than enough for me.
*just got nerdgasm*
@jmcburna I wonder how many people are really using the first generation iphones anymore, a couple of things which come to mind would be the fact that the phones would most likely need new batteries, either right now or shortly in the future. I replaced my 1st gen about 8months ago and couldn't be happier. Phones don't last forever, and there is alot of time and energy that would go into testing on that "almost identical" software. There have already been enough firmwares which fell on their face on the 1st gen. It isn't like they are saying that you must upgrade and you can't use your phone if you don't, they are just saying that your 3 year old phone will continue using the same software it has on it now (barring any bugfixes) and that is already 2 major versions newer then it was the day you bought it.
@dreamerkm This is a very stupid move on Apple's part.
Backstabbing their most loyal customers wasn't something I would expect Apple to do.
@Doorey So 2 years?
@Ridgecity
Er, pretty sure if you're using a 3 yr old phone of Apple's and demanding further software updates, you're not one of their "most loyal" customers.
@Sled Nokia has pushed updates to their Symbian S60 devices.
@Dr Blight Buy a new one. No big deal.
Steve
Sent from my iPad
@Anthony La
Whats funny to me is that iPad requires atleast Leopard (about 4-5 years old) on a Mac to run but still works on Windows XP(about 10 years old) just fine.
@FADE
Huh? Multitouch is not a 4.0 thing...
@mr88 Heh, oops. Multitasking.
@everyone The iPhone 2G is permanently jailbroken and will definitely get all future upgrades.
@dreamerkm Welcome to Apple's intention for all of its devices. They have been doing this since the days of the iPod. Apple's ultimate goal is to make these things expensive enough to make them a crap load of money, yet cheap enough so when they come out with the next model and say no software for ju...people will shrug and go buy another iFad. This has been Apple's goal for years and they they suck *** worse then Microsoft ever did.
To those mentioning nokia/s60 updates: it's not really the same because features typically don't get passed through. There have been some decent updates from Nokia, but mostly you're stuck with the same functionality. I'm not really an apple fan - I have a nokia phone, but the updates aren't exactly ground breaking. I've been jealous of the way that iphones have seen increased usability in the past.
On the whole I'd rather seen phones become much more open so that they could have some usefulness following companies dropping all support. There's no reason why a 3 year old phone shouldn't have some life in it (provided it has a user replaceable battery - which, of course, the iphone doesn't) - just open it up and let the community hack on it.
More like "Steve Jobs apparently wants original iPhone owners to hack their systems"
@dreamerkm HTC has always given regular updates to there phones even before there was a iphone
@John Doe Wait... you mean they want to make the greates profit possible? A company? Interested in profits?
HOW EVIL!
is that outlook running on windows 3.1?
is that outlook running on windows 3.1?
@Sled Exactly. The fact that they've kept them updated for some time is a surprise. Still, I think the update would work fine, as many of these features have been running on my 1st Gen iPod Touch for a while now with Jailbroken apps.
@jmcburna Look at HTC the Droid Eris just hit end of life after just a couple months. What are people honestly complaining about? I am no longer in the "walled garden" and I own the N1 (Which is a HTC device), but you can't bitch about one company "dropping customers on their face" after three years because I have never seen a Samsung or Sanyo get the upgrades that phone do now a days.
@Sled
I have had a G1 since October of 2008, and I still get updates ... isnt the open handset alliance great! Android FTW!
@Dr Blight Essentially the same, but with half the processor speed. That could make a pretty big difference when it comes to multitasking performance. I don't actually know for a fact. Development is already geared toward the faster hardware, and lots of apps are sluggish to load and perform on the first iPhone.
@Luxury Guy And even "OS" is a kind term if you were on anything but a full smart phone.
I'm also amazed how there's now a perception that phones are worthless after a year because a new version is out. For me, it's hard to justify a yearly $300.00 purchase of a phone, which is also essentially buying a new iPod, when I have a perfectly functional version. I like to keep my tech as well, so I'm not trying to sell my old phone to get a new one.
@KarlW
Totally agreed! I have a HTC Magic in the same situation.
@Sled I wouldn't expect a phone that cost $20 after 2year contract to get updated.
But if I was one of the people that paid $600 after 2year contract for an iPhone... yeah, I would expect a little extra customer service. o_O
@dreamerkm How many G1 customers got Android 2.1 pushed out to them?
@dreamerkm
Only 1 outstanding Issue with this is,
If the 3G can get an update so should the 2G as they are both the same hardware except the 3g chip inside! People are comparing iphones to g1's and phones of other companies but intentionally avoiding the fact that those two versions of the iphone are twins, if the G1 and G2 had the same hardware we would have also complained to HTC as to why they dont have the same supporting software.
@dreamerkm
Those of you wondering who uses a 3 year old phone. I myself have a 3 year old (in my hands) phone, sure the specs are laughable (rolling on the ground) and all but it does the job.
It came with windows mobile 2003. I am now running 6.1 and am still happy with it (6.5 roms are a little laggy for my liking) If the latest WinMO OS can run on a phone originally out on sale since 2003, then why can't apple support their 3 year old phone.
Answer: they want people to upgrade and give them more money
@Sled
Yeah its great that they have supported the iphone 1st gen this long but if the hardware on the 3g and ipod touch 2nd gen are almost the same anyway why not? not reason but to want money
@dreamerkm good job, jobs... nice way to market your iPhone 4g (sarcastic) http://j.mp/verizon-iphone-4g