Re:The iPad 1
by axx on Sunday September 30, 2012 @06:39PM
(#4594469)
Not so sure about that. What happens if you need to restore your iPad 1 and redownload all the Apps? Do you get the latest version, or the latest compatible version of the App, even if the developer dropped support for your iOS version?
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The latest version (if it works) - iTunes on your Mac/PC should store the latest compatible one though. Yes, it's a mess. Apple really need some kind of plan for discontinued devices. What happens when a critical flaw is discovered in Mobile Safari 5 and suddenly the 15 million iPad users are vulnerable to drive-by downloads?
They push an update to iOS 5? Which has OTA self-updates.
Lion and Snow Leopard and Vista and countless other old OSes get updates. XP still won't get EOS-ed for another 2 years.
They haven't done this for vulnerabilities in either 3.1.3 or 4.2.1, the other two EOL versions. I guess there probably aren't enough users of these to make them attractive to exploits, but the number of users stuck on iOS5 will likely stay in the 8 digits for a while. Whereas many people have been conditioned to buy a new phone every 24 months, I doubt this applies to iPads and iPod Touches as well. I don't know if that kind of number makes them a sufficiently attractive target for criminals.