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Apple completely cutting support for first-gen iPads is certainly planned/deliberate obsolescence. The hardware is fine, well-built and solid, probably still h

Apple completely cutting support for first-gen iPads is certainly planned/deliberate obsolescence. The hardware is fine, well-built and solid, probably still has 50% battery life left at this point. It's not the fastest device, but plenty fast for text and 2D graphics, plus some mild 3D. But Apple has cut off support, very few apps can run on the old version of iOS it is locked to, and there is no real way of installing a different OS or adding a third-party app store or sideloading apps. Even with a paid developer account, you're severely limited. That is actively killing off a device that could still be viable and usable to a lot of people, thus planned/deliberate obsolescence.

zepto 5y ago
It’s complete bullshit to say it was planned or deliberate. If you have some internal documents showing the plan, that would be different. It’s just a device from a time when technology was evolving rapidly. If this problem hadn’t been solved, there would be more of an issue, but my 6 year old iPad Pro runs everything and is still fully supported. Having said that I actually do agree that unsupported hardware in general should be opened to new OS installs at the end of official support.
- KozmoNau7 5y ago
  How is Apple's decision to no longer support the original iPad and also refuse to open the platform not deliberate? It is still a perfectly viable piece of hardware for many uses, no matter how much technology has improved.
  - zepto 5y ago
    The reason they haven’t opened the platform is to protect the security model. That is deliberate, but has nothing to do with planned obsolescence.
    - KozmoNau7 5y ago
      That is complete nonsense, and a cop-out at best. Opening up the original iPad to other operating systems and/or DIY software does not mean handing over the signing keys for currently supported platforms. In case of a running iPad, an Apple-authorized update could be pushed to the OS to unlock it and allow it to run binaries directly. Apple could also document any hardware features that would allow someone to put an iPad into "free-for-all" mode. Presumably this would require opening up the device to attach a serial cable to a JTAG connection or something similar. There are many options for Apple to open up unsupported devices for hobbyists to tinker on, and it would completely in line in the original hacker-friendly Apple spirit. Instead Apple refuses to do so, and insist that opening up an 11 year old, long unsupported device, by claiming that it would somehow compromise their current security model.
      - zepto 5y ago
        What you have described completely destroys the security model. > In case of a running iPad, an Apple-authorized update could be pushed to the OS to unlock it and allow it to run binaries directly. Which of course an attacker would be able to do too. > Apple could also document any hardware features that would allow someone to put an iPad into "free-for-all" mode. Presumably this would require opening up the device to attach a serial cable to a JTAG connection or something similar. Which of course a police department, the FBI, or the agents of an oppressive regime or anyone who bought a JTAG device off ebay would be able to do too. These are exactly the reasons they don’t do these things - if they did, they would be opening attack vectors. Security is hard. I’m not saying it’s impossible to achieve this, but it’s not simple.
        KozmoNau7 5y ago
        We're talking about a device that is completely unsupported by its manufacturer. You already have no expectation of security or integrity when the last available OS and security update is over 5 years old by now. Opening up access to install your own software would have great potential to increase the security of the device, not least because you can actually run current and patched versions of any software. What you're arguing for is security by obscurity.

zepto 5y ago

It’s complete bullshit to say it was planned or deliberate. If you have some internal documents showing the plan, that would be different. It’s just a device from a time when technology was evolving rapidly. If this problem hadn’t been solved, there would be more of an issue, but my 6 year old iPad Pro runs everything and is still fully supported. Having said that I actually do agree that unsupported hardware in general should be opened to new OS installs at the end of official support.

KozmoNau7 5y ago
How is Apple's decision to no longer support the original iPad and also refuse to open the platform not deliberate? It is still a perfectly viable piece of hardware for many uses, no matter how much technology has improved.
- zepto 5y ago
  The reason they haven’t opened the platform is to protect the security model. That is deliberate, but has nothing to do with planned obsolescence.
  - KozmoNau7 5y ago
    That is complete nonsense, and a cop-out at best. Opening up the original iPad to other operating systems and/or DIY software does not mean handing over the signing keys for currently supported platforms. In case of a running iPad, an Apple-authorized update could be pushed to the OS to unlock it and allow it to run binaries directly. Apple could also document any hardware features that would allow someone to put an iPad into "free-for-all" mode. Presumably this would require opening up the device to attach a serial cable to a JTAG connection or something similar. There are many options for Apple to open up unsupported devices for hobbyists to tinker on, and it would completely in line in the original hacker-friendly Apple spirit. Instead Apple refuses to do so, and insist that opening up an 11 year old, long unsupported device, by claiming that it would somehow compromise their current security model.
    - zepto 5y ago
      What you have described completely destroys the security model. > In case of a running iPad, an Apple-authorized update could be pushed to the OS to unlock it and allow it to run binaries directly. Which of course an attacker would be able to do too. > Apple could also document any hardware features that would allow someone to put an iPad into "free-for-all" mode. Presumably this would require opening up the device to attach a serial cable to a JTAG connection or something similar. Which of course a police department, the FBI, or the agents of an oppressive regime or anyone who bought a JTAG device off ebay would be able to do too. These are exactly the reasons they don’t do these things - if they did, they would be opening attack vectors. Security is hard. I’m not saying it’s impossible to achieve this, but it’s not simple.
      - KozmoNau7 5y ago
        We're talking about a device that is completely unsupported by its manufacturer. You already have no expectation of security or integrity when the last available OS and security update is over 5 years old by now. Opening up access to install your own software would have great potential to increase the security of the device, not least because you can actually run current and patched versions of any software. What you're arguing for is security by obscurity.