Snippet: How Long Do iPhones and iPads Stay Fresh? ☇

Jon Keegan for The Wall Street Journal:

With the release this week of iOS 10 and iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, we reviewed all of Apple’s iPhones and iPads, to see how long each was able to refresh the software. The perception is that Apple drops support for older products, to encourage new sales. In fact, the company is supporting more of its products longer. (Maybe that’s bad news if you’re fishing for reasons to ditch your iPhone 6.)

The big winner was the iPad 2, which launched in spring 2011 running iOS 5. Apple continued selling the tablet for three years, and it was compatible with fresh iOS versions even longer. Though Apple hasn’t sold the iPad 2 since 2014, its 2,013-day run of current-iOS compatibility ended this month with iOS 10’s debut.

This is a fascinating look at the longevity of various iOS devices and counters an argument that I’ve heard numerous times from people that don’t particularly follow Apple closely. The confusing part of that logic is that if Apple purposely made products worse or unsupported, wouldn’t people leave in disgust? If anything, Apple supported the iPad 2 for a bit too long.