6 ms·

Or just buy Apple. The iPhone 5s was released in 2013 and got an update less than a fortnight ago (January 28).

by taspeotis 7y ago

eithed 7y ago
Can you make assurances that iPhone doesn't suffer from similar issues, given it's not open source solution?
- lima 7y ago
  There's tons of security researchers focusing on iOS and the lack of source code access is merely an inconvenience.
- objclxt 7y ago
  Depends what you mean by "similar issues" If you mean "a bunch of relatively new Android phones not getting security updates because their manufacturer doesn't support them", then yes. Apple is actively providing not just security patches but entire feature software updates for the iPhone 6S, which is 4.5 years old at this point.
  - eithed 7y ago
    Yup, that's what I mean. While I do have an Android phone that is patched (Samsung), I understand that many people will be hmm... irritated that this vulnerability won't be fixed and requires them to upgrade. I'd not treat switching to Apple ecosystem as panacea to everything though and would be more for security through audit, not obscurity.
    - why_only_15 7y ago
      Apple's security is heavily audited in a lot of ways. They give special phones to researchers that make it easier to audit them, and there are significant bug bounties.
      - dewey 7y ago
        > They give special phones to researchers that make it easier to audit them Did this already happen? I only remember the announcement and then researchers on Twitter complaining that the first one is yet to be seen.
- prox 7y ago
  There a couple of alternative solutions, from convenient to effort needed : iOS ecosystem. Since Apple is a hardware manufacturer foremost, you notice from the start you aren’t the product. Lots of apps, many of high quality. Librem/Pinephone : Linux phones. While the hardware is still closed source in certain parts, it’s a step up from what we have now. Librem allows you to install any linux variant you choose. Zerophone : Build your own phone basically, very cheap to build ($50) , and currently in development.
dana321 7y ago
Only because their newer iphone SE is similar enough.
- blub 7y ago
  The SE has a similar shape with the 5s, but the internals of a 6s, which is two generations older than the 5s.
  - dana321 7y ago
    I knew it was an updated cpu, but what i meant was they keep it going because it is similar enough looking and probably a lot of the parts are the same like the screen and other associated chips within the device. There is more to a phone than just the cpu.
janekm 7y ago
To put that in perspective, as far as I've been able to determine Google provided security updates for the 2013 Nexus 5 until November 2018: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/03/google-ends-major-os-support-for-the-nexus-phones-and-pixel-tablet/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/03/google-ends-major-os... It's doubtful that any other Android vendor provided updates for longer...
- joshuaissac 7y ago
  While it is not the same as manufacturer support, the latest version of LineageOS is officially supported on the Samsung Galaxy S4 (2013).
  - myself248 7y ago
    S4 here too! The last great flagship, as far as I'm concerned. Removable battery (just ordered another!), headphone jack, microSD slot, USB OHG, HDMI/MHL out, glove-compatible touchscreen, and small enough to fit the hand. I'm gonna keep these things running as long as I can, because the prospect of replacing them with something a decade newer but inferior in every meaningful way is simply sad. LineageOS is the only reason I don't loathe the whole Android ecosystem, to be honest.
    - ekianjo 7y ago
      You still have to root your device to install LineageOS right?
      - myself248 7y ago
        TBQH I've never been quite clear on what it means to root a device. I just run Heimdall and load the files they specify, plug the device in, and a few minutes later, it reboots into Lineage.
        joshuaissac 7y ago
        To install LineageOS, it is enough to unlock the bootloader, which permits the installation of operating system images that have not been signed by the manufacturer (e.g. Samsung). Rooting permits applications to have more control over the device at runtime. Some devices require the bootloader to be unlocked to enable rooting, and others do not.
visualphoenix 7y ago
Did this iOS Bluetooth LE exploit ever get patched? https://github.com/hexway/apple_bleee/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/hexway/apple_bleee/blob/master/README.md Less dangerous, for sure...
ekianjo 7y ago
> Or just buy Apple And get locked in another walled garden? Erm... no thank you.
- Humdeee 7y ago
  Meh, I prefer that over a gated patch of dirt
  - rstupek 7y ago
    gated landfill?
ChuckNorris89 7y ago
Buying iPhone makes sense if you're already invested in the whole ecosystem(owning MacBook, iWatch, AirPods, etc.). If you're not part of the Apple ecosystem the experience is less polished when you need one apple device to play well with the rest of your non apple devices.
- tommit 7y ago
  Full disclosure: I'm very locked in the Apple ecosystem. They do play amazingly well with one another, but I feel like that's not at all their main selling point. You can appreciate the longevity and continued support of an iPhone without having an Apple Watch. You can appreciate a MacBook for its OS (pre Catalina anyway) and build quality (I'm still running a 2014 model -- though I have read about recent models' issues) without having an iPhone to pair it with. To be fair, you cannot appreciate an Apple Watch without an iPhone at all since it won't do anything, and I'm no the fence about AirPods and how well they do outside the Apple world. My point is, once you're in the ecosystem, you notice a lot of little things that may make your life easier. Are they great? Yeah absolutely. Are they what sells the product? In my opinion, not at all. Unless it happens to pinpoint your exact use case (I need to lock and unlock my MacBook 30 times a day and I'm tired of having to enter a password, I want my Apple Watch to unlock it), it's the product itself that will most likely convince you. The way they neatly play together at times is just the cherry on top, like when you notice your computer and phone now share a clipboard. That's awesome, but not a single selling point for anyone. Now, I will be the first one to say: iTunes sucks. So, if you do buy an iPhone, it makes sense IMO to shed out the extra 99ct a month for iCloud storage.
  - davidy123 7y ago
    While there are cheap computers that don't last well, pretty much any computer at the price point of an Apple computer will last at least five years, in fact they will probably last several times that. Additionally, Thinkpads for example have full user service manuals and often support users repairing or upgrading parts such as RAM and storage that explicitly maintains the warranty.
    - 7y ago

Or just buy Apple. The iPhone 5s was released in 2013 and got an update less than a fortnight ago (January 28).

eithed 7y ago

Can you make assurances that iPhone doesn't suffer from similar issues, given it's not open source solution?

lima 7y ago
There's tons of security researchers focusing on iOS and the lack of source code access is merely an inconvenience.
objclxt 7y ago
Depends what you mean by "similar issues" If you mean "a bunch of relatively new Android phones not getting security updates because their manufacturer doesn't support them", then yes. Apple is actively providing not just security patches but entire feature software updates for the iPhone 6S, which is 4.5 years old at this point.
- eithed 7y ago
  Yup, that's what I mean. While I do have an Android phone that is patched (Samsung), I understand that many people will be hmm... irritated that this vulnerability won't be fixed and requires them to upgrade. I'd not treat switching to Apple ecosystem as panacea to everything though and would be more for security through audit, not obscurity.
  - why_only_15 7y ago
    Apple's security is heavily audited in a lot of ways. They give special phones to researchers that make it easier to audit them, and there are significant bug bounties.
    - dewey 7y ago
      > They give special phones to researchers that make it easier to audit them Did this already happen? I only remember the announcement and then researchers on Twitter complaining that the first one is yet to be seen.
prox 7y ago
There a couple of alternative solutions, from convenient to effort needed : iOS ecosystem. Since Apple is a hardware manufacturer foremost, you notice from the start you aren’t the product. Lots of apps, many of high quality. Librem/Pinephone : Linux phones. While the hardware is still closed source in certain parts, it’s a step up from what we have now. Librem allows you to install any linux variant you choose. Zerophone : Build your own phone basically, very cheap to build ($50) , and currently in development.

dana321 7y ago

Only because their newer iphone SE is similar enough.

blub 7y ago
The SE has a similar shape with the 5s, but the internals of a 6s, which is two generations older than the 5s.
- dana321 7y ago
  I knew it was an updated cpu, but what i meant was they keep it going because it is similar enough looking and probably a lot of the parts are the same like the screen and other associated chips within the device. There is more to a phone than just the cpu.

janekm 7y ago

To put that in perspective, as far as I've been able to determine Google provided security updates for the 2013 Nexus 5 until November 2018: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/03/google-ends-major-os-support-for-the-nexus-phones-and-pixel-tablet/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/03/google-ends-major-os... It's doubtful that any other Android vendor provided updates for longer...

joshuaissac 7y ago
While it is not the same as manufacturer support, the latest version of LineageOS is officially supported on the Samsung Galaxy S4 (2013).
- myself248 7y ago
  S4 here too! The last great flagship, as far as I'm concerned. Removable battery (just ordered another!), headphone jack, microSD slot, USB OHG, HDMI/MHL out, glove-compatible touchscreen, and small enough to fit the hand. I'm gonna keep these things running as long as I can, because the prospect of replacing them with something a decade newer but inferior in every meaningful way is simply sad. LineageOS is the only reason I don't loathe the whole Android ecosystem, to be honest.
  - ekianjo 7y ago
    You still have to root your device to install LineageOS right?
    - myself248 7y ago
      TBQH I've never been quite clear on what it means to root a device. I just run Heimdall and load the files they specify, plug the device in, and a few minutes later, it reboots into Lineage.
      - joshuaissac 7y ago
        To install LineageOS, it is enough to unlock the bootloader, which permits the installation of operating system images that have not been signed by the manufacturer (e.g. Samsung). Rooting permits applications to have more control over the device at runtime. Some devices require the bootloader to be unlocked to enable rooting, and others do not.

visualphoenix 7y ago

Did this iOS Bluetooth LE exploit ever get patched? https://github.com/hexway/apple_bleee/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/hexway/apple_bleee/blob/master/README.md Less dangerous, for sure...

ekianjo 7y ago

> Or just buy Apple And get locked in another walled garden? Erm... no thank you.

Humdeee 7y ago
Meh, I prefer that over a gated patch of dirt
- rstupek 7y ago
  gated landfill?

ChuckNorris89 7y ago

Buying iPhone makes sense if you're already invested in the whole ecosystem(owning MacBook, iWatch, AirPods, etc.). If you're not part of the Apple ecosystem the experience is less polished when you need one apple device to play well with the rest of your non apple devices.

tommit 7y ago
Full disclosure: I'm very locked in the Apple ecosystem. They do play amazingly well with one another, but I feel like that's not at all their main selling point. You can appreciate the longevity and continued support of an iPhone without having an Apple Watch. You can appreciate a MacBook for its OS (pre Catalina anyway) and build quality (I'm still running a 2014 model -- though I have read about recent models' issues) without having an iPhone to pair it with. To be fair, you cannot appreciate an Apple Watch without an iPhone at all since it won't do anything, and I'm no the fence about AirPods and how well they do outside the Apple world. My point is, once you're in the ecosystem, you notice a lot of little things that may make your life easier. Are they great? Yeah absolutely. Are they what sells the product? In my opinion, not at all. Unless it happens to pinpoint your exact use case (I need to lock and unlock my MacBook 30 times a day and I'm tired of having to enter a password, I want my Apple Watch to unlock it), it's the product itself that will most likely convince you. The way they neatly play together at times is just the cherry on top, like when you notice your computer and phone now share a clipboard. That's awesome, but not a single selling point for anyone. Now, I will be the first one to say: iTunes sucks. So, if you do buy an iPhone, it makes sense IMO to shed out the extra 99ct a month for iCloud storage.
- davidy123 7y ago
  While there are cheap computers that don't last well, pretty much any computer at the price point of an Apple computer will last at least five years, in fact they will probably last several times that. Additionally, Thinkpads for example have full user service manuals and often support users repairing or upgrading parts such as RAM and storage that explicitly maintains the warranty.
  - 7y ago