Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Hrududu

macrumors 68020
Jul 25, 2008
2,300
628
Central US
A couple weeks back Google announced their plan to support Chromebooks with 10 years of ChromeOS support. They even extended support for units that were already slated to EOL soon by a couple years. Whether or not a Chromebook lasts that long is anyones guess, but if you're in the education space there is almost no reason to consider Windows or Apple anymore.
 

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,636
2,692
Google is now giving OS updates for 7 years with its Pixel according media. Will Apple follow? The X only got 5 major updates.
Would it kill ya to include a link to whatever the !#@$ you're talking about? Many of us couldn't care less about what "Google is now doing" so if you want a discussion about it, include a link to the policy or announcement or article or whatever it is.
 

Torty

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 16, 2013
1,097
831
Would it kill ya to include a link to whatever the !#@$ you're talking about? Many of us couldn't care less about what "Google is now doing" so if you want a discussion about it, include a link to the policy or announcement or article or whatever it is.
Added the link.
 

tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,346
4,869
Great if it’s true but as others have mentioned, Google has serious commitment issues to any of their products and services outside of GMail and YouTube. They’ve cancelled so many different services over the years, some just after a year, that it’s hard to keep track of them all. Hell, look what they did recent to the Pixel Pass…didn’t even make it to one cycle of the program. Google Stadia? Any of their messaging services?

And again, as other’s have mentioned, 7 years is likely overkill for the overwelming majority of people but if it actually holds true, certainly doesn’t hurt.

Would I like to see Apple offer 7 years of major OS support? Sure but only if it’s meaningful. Promising updates to a device that can’t reasonably take advantage of new features is next to useless. As long as they offer ongoing security support, I’m happy.
 

NEPOBABY

macrumors 6502a
Jan 10, 2023
534
1,440
You can still buy every year a new phone. What kind of videos is the X unable to play? Or are you speaking of video creators?

Any modern HDR format or Apple Log footage cannot be efficiently decoded on such an old phone. Decoders are much more efficient today and support newer formats.

Too hold on to a smartphone for 7 years makes little sense when there are trade in programs these days.

The most toxic part of a phone is the battery and instead of replacing that for new batteries and increasing ACTUAL e-waste, it is better to trade the whole phone in.

The direction smart phone photography is going in will make even the 15 series look redundant in 5 years. We are moving towards 3D scanning, NERF and photogrammetry. The capabilities of sensors to do that will be much higher in 5 years and almost nobody who likes to take photos or capture memories will want to keep an old phone.

Don't trust Google. They almost always tell lies and their rotten culture goes straight to the top. If they say they are supporting Android for 7 years it is a more likely a PR stunt because the iPhone 15 has kicked Pixel phone in the nuts and buried it.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: that be me

tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,346
4,869
I'm actually pissed that Apple stopped updating the 8 Plus this year. It's not right. That phone still works great, yet I had to upgrade because my work requires the latest iOS.

Sucks.

Where are the EU regulators when you need them (clearly the Americans will let manufacturers golden shower all over the customers).

And Apple trots out this nonsense about sustainability this year. Ridiculous! How much waste are they generating by refusing to provide iOS updates to the 8 Plus series?

Well, to be clear, this is more a you and your employer issue than it is Apple’s. That iPhone 8 Plus will still keep working on iOS 16. Your employer requiring the latest version of the OS is the issue.

Completely not true. My 8 Plus is still going strong. It's a great phone, and I do much more than "the basics," whatever those are!

Actually, it’s very true. Average upgrade cycle over the past 10+ years hasn’t changed that much. Most people upgrade in less than 4 years, even less for enterprise. Like it or not, you’re the outlier. And creating limits on software just to support a very small minority doesn’t make sense.
 

Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,558
3,256
I will believe it when I see it. Google can promise you the moon and the stars. We will only know in hindsight whether they will actually live up to those promises or not.
So says the pro Apple person. Look they would be in serious trouble with all kinds of class action lawsuits after promising they would provide X number of years and then reneging on that promise.
 

cthompson94

macrumors 6502a
Jan 10, 2022
808
1,161
SoCal
Well, to be clear, this is more a you and your employer issue than it is Apple’s. That iPhone 8 Plus will still keep working on iOS 16. Your employer requiring the latest version of the OS is the issue.



Actually, it’s very true. Average upgrade cycle over the past 10+ years hasn’t changed that much. Most people upgrade in less than 4 years, even less for enterprise. Like it or not, you’re the outlier. And creating limits on software just to support a very small minority doesn’t make sense.
I agree with your take on @janeauburn employer being the reason why they cannot keep using the iPhone 8. If the employer doesn't have anything stating the requirements I think it may even be able to have grounds legally speaking. I am by far a lawyer, but if you sign on for employment and the employment basically requires an app or whatever that checks for certain iOS versions (probably based on what supported security updates) and you are not compensated with a work phone or monetary value maybe just maybe there is something there
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,831
26,945
Any modern HDR format or Apple Log footage cannot be efficiently decoded on such an old phone. Decoders are much more efficient today and support newer formats.
I won't argue that as I don't know anything about it.

Too hold on to a smartphone for 7 years makes little sense when there are trade in programs these days.

It makes little financial sense. Because most people trade their phones in to pay for their new ones. There are others, people such as myself, for who it makes perfect nostalgic sense to hold on to old phones.

The most toxic part of a phone is the battery and instead of replacing that for new batteries and increasing ACTUAL e-waste, it is better to trade the whole phone in.

You're probably correct, I've replaced several batteries on phones. However, eventually the phones will either occupy a shelf with their box or actually be turned in for e-waste. Unfortunately, I find that a lot of major name recyclers are unwilling to take such older phones/tablets as I have. When or if I eventually get around to recycling things it will be a hunt to find someone that actually accepts them.

The direction smart phone photography is going in will make even the 15 series look redundant in 5 years. We are moving towards 3D scanning, NERF and photogrammetry. The capabilities of sensors to do that will be much higher in 5 years and almost nobody who likes to take photos or capture memories will want to keep an old phone.
Here I diverge. If I want serious photos I get a real camera. My phone is simply for on the go stuff. Yes, what you say is true, however, it's nothing I want in a phone. I want something that is good enough.

My family is not particularly fond of having pictures taken. For me, a legacy of my father snapping pictures out of the blue when you least expected it, or demanding you stand there and get your picture taken. I hate it. My wife has her own issues. My kids are meh about pictures and most often try to avoid getting their pictures taken as much as possible.

So a big majority of the pictures I take are so my wife can see what item she wants me to bring home when I am at the store. In short, I really don't care about taking macro pictures from the surface of Pluto.

Don't trust Google. They almost always tell lies and their rotten culture goes straight to the top. If they say they are supporting Android for 7 years it is a more likely a PR stunt because the iPhone 15 has kicked Pixel phone in the nuts and buried it.
All my services are with Google. I agree, I don't trust them. However, they have yet to get rid of calendars (Google Calendar), notes (Google Keep), books (Google Books) and mail (GMail). I'd also just mention that I am not a heavy user of Gmail as it's not my primary email account. Everything I named above though is cross platform and will work on any device and any computer. Which is why I use it.

I was upset when they transferred Google Music to Youtube Music. I went back to using my NAS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eltoslightfoot

Pandyone

macrumors regular
Sep 30, 2021
159
201
What I really don't like is that Google seems to be locking more features into the new hardware than other manufacturers lately. Even if the hardware is actually not needed.

7 years is a lot if customers are going to feel the need to upgrade to get software features.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kc9hzn

cthompson94

macrumors 6502a
Jan 10, 2022
808
1,161
SoCal
What I really don't like is that Google seems to be locking more features into the new hardware than other manufacturers lately. Even if the hardware is actually not needed.

7 years is a lot if customers are going to feel the need to upgrade to get software features.
That is actually probably why they do not mind putting up an offer like that! Unfortunate, but with Google diving head first into AI capabilities for most of the new features and unfortunately that requires computing power. I am sure somewhere in their official statement for the 7 years of updates is a disclaimer of having compatible hardware *somewhat. One of the "features" is a weird one and if I remember correctly it was something along the lines of having to upload photos to the cloud to be edited more in-depth (basically better) then you phone downloads them back, but for some reason this requires the pro version.
 
  • Like
Reactions: souko

Zaydax333

macrumors member
May 25, 2021
73
173
In the past several years processors really have jumped in performance quite a bit. Especially also the neural engine which Apple is relying on more more for new features.

The A12 had a 5 trillion ops per second engine. The A13 had a 6 trillion ops per second. The A14 (basis for M1) had a big jump to 11 trillion ops per second.

If I was a gambling man, I'd bet that the A14/M1 + devices are going to start a new age of support from Apple. Likely longer than the unspoken 5 years previous devices are getting because the SoC will be able to run new features at a reasonable performance level thanks to the more powerful hardware.
 

GMShadow

macrumors 68000
Jun 8, 2021
1,811
7,429
A couple weeks back Google announced their plan to support Chromebooks with 10 years of ChromeOS support. They even extended support for units that were already slated to EOL soon by a couple years. Whether or not a Chromebook lasts that long is anyones guess, but if you're in the education space there is almost no reason to consider Windows or Apple anymore.

Chromebooks physically don't last that long. They're essentially ewaste out of the box.
 

NT1440

macrumors G5
May 18, 2008
14,723
21,356
In the past several years processors really have jumped in performance quite a bit. Especially also the neural engine which Apple is relying on more more for new features.

The A12 had a 5 trillion ops per second engine. The A13 had a 6 trillion ops per second. The A14 (basis for M1) had a big jump to 11 trillion ops per second.

If I was a gambling man, I'd bet that the A14/M1 + devices are going to start a new age of support from Apple. Likely longer than the unspoken 5 years previous devices are getting because the SoC will be able to run new features at a reasonable performance level thanks to the more powerful hardware.
I can’t be bothered to go dig up my post from the M1 release but I speculated this exact thing. The new Apple Silicon has a *staggering* capability for the *floor* of performance.

I expect the official support for macOS releases will be longer than the Intel Macs was because Apple now has control over the hardware that the software relies on. Most intels were dropped when a core macOS feature relied on hardware that wasn’t there in a given generation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zaydax333

Torty

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 16, 2013
1,097
831
A couple weeks back Google announced their plan to support Chromebooks with 10 years of ChromeOS support. They even extended support for units that were already slated to EOL soon by a couple years. Whether or not a Chromebook lasts that long is anyones guess, but if you're in the education space there is almost no reason to consider Windows or Apple anymore.
Wow 10 years. That’s great. I hope more and more companies give the info about how many years the device will be supported. For me it would be a very big purchase criterion.
 

Pandyone

macrumors regular
Sep 30, 2021
159
201
That is actually probably why they do not mind putting up an offer like that! Unfortunate, but with Google diving head first into AI capabilities for most of the new features and unfortunately that requires computing power. I am sure somewhere in their official statement for the 7 years of updates is a disclaimer of having compatible hardware *somewhat. One of the "features" is a weird one and if I remember correctly it was something along the lines of having to upload photos to the cloud to be edited more in-depth (basically better) then you phone downloads them back, but for some reason this requires the pro version.

That's also something I really don't like; some features they claim need the power/chip on new hardware, but some months later customers can suddenly use them if they pay for Google One and have the features in cloud.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cthompson94

NEPOBABY

macrumors 6502a
Jan 10, 2023
534
1,440
There are others, people such as myself, for who it makes perfect nostalgic sense to hold on to old phones.

That's fine if you want to hold on to old phones.

People collect vintage stuff and even hold them as collectibles until they die.

But don't expect them to run well and then post silly stuff online such as 'please support my product with many years of updates that eventually my device is too slow to run'.

We don't expect modern desktop apps to run well on a 7 year old computer and likewise nobody should expect the same from a smartphone.

These discussions aren't new.

I remember when PowerPC G3 owners wanted OS X support for longer.

But it was a silly request because the G3 wasn't even good enough to run the first two versions of OS X very well.
 

kc9hzn

macrumors 68000
Jun 18, 2020
1,603
1,909
I will believe it when I see it. Google can promise you the moon and the stars. We will only know in hindsight whether they will actually live up to those promises or not.
You and me both. I generally don’t trust Google to keep its word, especially when that word involves product maintenance. Historically, Google has given us little reason to trust them to keep products alive, especially when they no longer make Google money.
 

kc9hzn

macrumors 68000
Jun 18, 2020
1,603
1,909
Great if it’s true but as others have mentioned, Google has serious commitment issues to any of their products and services outside of GMail and YouTube. They’ve cancelled so many different services over the years, some just after a year, that it’s hard to keep track of them all. Hell, look what they did recent to the Pixel Pass…didn’t even make it to one cycle of the program. Google Stadia? Any of their messaging services?

And again, as other’s have mentioned, 7 years is likely overkill for the overwelming majority of people but if it actually holds true, certainly doesn’t hurt.

Would I like to see Apple offer 7 years of major OS support? Sure but only if it’s meaningful. Promising updates to a device that can’t reasonably take advantage of new features is next to useless. As long as they offer ongoing security support, I’m happy.
Heck, even with YouTube and GMail, Google has been known to drop popular features.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eyoungren

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,831
26,945
That's fine if you want to hold on to old phones.

People collect vintage stuff and even hold them as collectibles until they die.

But don't expect them to run well and then post silly stuff online such as 'please support my product with many years of updates that eventually my device is too slow to run'.

We don't expect modern desktop apps to run well on a 7 year old computer and likewise nobody should expect the same from a smartphone.

These discussions aren't new.

I remember when PowerPC G3 owners wanted OS X support for longer.

But it was a silly request because the G3 wasn't even good enough to run the first two versions of OS X very well.
In general I agree with you.

The majority of my older phones are used for specific things, just as my old computers are. They are still capable of performing certain things. My current iPhone is the 11 Pro Max and it does just fine for all I need it to do.

PS. My newest Macs are 2009 vintage and up until last year my PowerMac G3 was running 10.4 Tiger server and serving as my home server. Right now I have a 500mhz PowerMac G4 functioning as a glorified NAS and a 2006 Mac Mini functioning as a download repository for all my computers.
 

goodthymes

macrumors member
Oct 11, 2022
63
117
Been an iPhone user since the 2G (just gave up the AT&T unlimited data plan that came with it earlier this year when I switched to t-mobile) and I think I will give the Pixels a hard look on my next upgrade cycle. 7 years commitment to security updates is huge I think, especially for non-enthusiasts who don't do hardware upgrade every year/other year.
 

M5RahuL

macrumors 68040
Aug 1, 2009
3,415
2,044
TeXaS
I see this as more of a marketing push, than real usability.

Long before 7 yrs, the battery would've degraded ( possibly more than once ), newer devices would have more enticing features, new enhancements and functionality (software) may be with held from the aging devices ( see Apple's mantra ), upgraded hardware ( screen, camera, wifi, modem, build etc ) lucrative offers to upgrade, etc. Plus, its Google.. not really a confidence inspiring track record of keeping their promises ( eg: feature enhancement promises getting delayed )

I doubt many folks will hang on to a device for more than ~ 4-5 years, if that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kc9hzn and tbayrgs
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.