Apple may be pushing owners of the iPhone 5 to obsolescence with their forthcoming iOS 11 update.
This fall’s forthcoming iOS 11 update will mark the end of support for not only 32-bit apps, but also legacy 32-bit devices. That means owners still clinging to their iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and fourth-generation iPad will be left behind or forced to upgrade.
The trio of devices, which still run on Apple’s A6 CPU, are the final units Apple made with a 32-bit architecture. This architecture, in turn, cannot run iOS 11.
The move isn’t a surprise, as Apple’s recently released Clips video app only supports 64-bit hardware, meaning it cannot run on the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, fourth-generation iPad, or any devices older than those.
iOS 11 itself marks the end of 32-bit apps and developers have been notified that they’ll need to update their apps to the 64-bit architecture prior to iOS 11’s release this fall.
Of course, the iPhone 5 and other legacy devices will still function properly with iOS 10.3.2 and earlier if users choose to continue to stick on legacy platforms. But the outdated hardware and software will become increasingly obsolete over time, and there is no guarantee that functions or apps will continue to work as expected.
Last year, Apple phased out the iPhone 4s, which did not make the cut for iOS 10. The handset, as such, cannot be updated past iOS 9.3.5.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider