3 ms·

After the disclosure of the last critical 0-day, I went to update the OS is my four iDevices. I upgraded three of them to iOS 14.8 with no trouble, but when I

by lisper 5y ago

After the disclosure of the last critical 0-day, I went to update the OS is my four iDevices. I upgraded three of them to iOS 14.8 with no trouble, but when I went to update the fourth it wouldn't let me update to 14.8 but rather only offered me the option of upgrading to 15.0. I didn't want to upgrade to 15.0, so I called Apple support and the first-line tech said, "Oh, I can definitely help you with that." I thought to myself that I'd give long odds against, but let's wait and see. Long story short, the matter has now been escalated two levels and is still not resolved. Funny side-story: at one point the first-tier tech suggested I try upgrading the phone using iTunes. iTunes has not existed in MacOS for quite a while now. The way you talk to iDevices now is through the Finder (which actually makes a lot more sense), but apparently their tech support didn't get the memo. Apple used to be the company that made devices that were secure and "just worked". Now they are as bad as Microsoft in the bad old days, and no one makes computers that "just work" any more. :-(

Ansil849 5y ago
> Apple used to be the company that made devices that were secure and "just worked". This is a complete myth. In fact, not only did Apple devices break all the time, but they were near-impossible for regular users to repair on their own. A simple proof: how many broken iPods did people used to have lying around?
- lisper 5y ago
  > This is a complete myth. No, it isn't. Snow Leopard was awesome. Mavericks was also pretty solid. In fact, I'm still running that on my machines today.
  - Ansil849 5y ago
    Yes, it is. Snow Leopard and Mavericks are not devices. The quote I am responding to is: > Apple used to be the company that made devices that were secure and "just worked". Unless your first generation iPod still works wonders.
    - blueboo 5y ago
      Mechanical hard drives that lived in pockets and backpacks inevitably died. People seem to have been happy with the lifespan they got, though.
    - masswerk 5y ago
      Ok, old (first gen) Mac Pro, preferably running Snow Leopard. BTW, I've one still running. Also a G3 from 1999 still up.
    - lisper 5y ago
      Sorry, I'm old-school. A computer is a device.
      - Ansil849 5y ago
        > A computer is a device. Correct. A computer is a device. Snow Leopard and Mavericks--your two examples-- are, however, not computers.
        lisper 5y ago
        Oh, good grief, do you really need to get that pedantic? Apple made computers (devices) that ran those operating systems, and that combination mostly Just Worked (at least it did for me).
        Ansil849 5y ago
        Pedantism is trotting out the fact that yeah, you can find plenty of people still running Windows-whatever on their Gateways, or lovingly cared-for TRS that still "just works". The point is that by and large, Apple devices are built in with planned obsolescence in mind (see the lawsuit they settled a few months ago about literally this).
        lisper 5y ago
        > Apple devices are built in with planned obsolescence in mind. They are now. They didn't used to be. My 2012 MBP is still humming right along. Earlier models were repairable and expandable and even had easily replaceable batteries.
- pram 5y ago
  None? I had an iPod Touch that lived in my glovebox for 9 years and it never died. My Rio Karma on the other hand basically disintegrated. Thanks for asking!
- vultour 5y ago
  I've never even heard of a broken iPod, who are these people that have several lying around?
  - kube-system 5y ago
    Way back when they had spinning disks, they were pretty failure prone. Although they were easy to replace, I vaguely remember replacing one myself.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
sascha_sl 5y ago
They might've sliced it into two parts on macOS, but it's still iTunes, with all the issues iTunes had.
concinds 5y ago
Sadly, Apple always gives the "latest and greatest" version all the security updates, and is more selective about backports, see here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212814 https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212814 for stuff you're unprotected from if you stay on iOS 14. This includes arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges. This has been the case for a long time for Apple, which forced me to break my Catalina boycott (remember the macOS Vista stories here?) because I don't want unfixed, publicized 0days on my machine.
saagarjha 5y ago
Here, I'll save you the trouble: download the iOS 14.8 IPSW for your device, and then in the Finder when your device is connected hold down the option key and hit "Update". Then select the IPSW and it'll update your device with that.
ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
You can download the IPSW from ipsw.me (you actually grab the file straight from Apple and it's digitally signed, so the malware risk is zero) and perform the update yourself by option-clicking the Update button in the iPhone window in Finder.
- lisper 5y ago
  Thanks!

by lisper 5y ago

Ansil849 5y ago

> Apple used to be the company that made devices that were secure and "just worked". This is a complete myth. In fact, not only did Apple devices break all the time, but they were near-impossible for regular users to repair on their own. A simple proof: how many broken iPods did people used to have lying around?

lisper 5y ago
> This is a complete myth. No, it isn't. Snow Leopard was awesome. Mavericks was also pretty solid. In fact, I'm still running that on my machines today.
- Ansil849 5y ago
  Yes, it is. Snow Leopard and Mavericks are not devices. The quote I am responding to is: > Apple used to be the company that made devices that were secure and "just worked". Unless your first generation iPod still works wonders.
  - blueboo 5y ago
    Mechanical hard drives that lived in pockets and backpacks inevitably died. People seem to have been happy with the lifespan they got, though.
  - masswerk 5y ago
    Ok, old (first gen) Mac Pro, preferably running Snow Leopard. BTW, I've one still running. Also a G3 from 1999 still up.
  - lisper 5y ago
    Sorry, I'm old-school. A computer is a device.
    - Ansil849 5y ago
      > A computer is a device. Correct. A computer is a device. Snow Leopard and Mavericks--your two examples-- are, however, not computers.
      - lisper 5y ago
        Oh, good grief, do you really need to get that pedantic? Apple made computers (devices) that ran those operating systems, and that combination mostly Just Worked (at least it did for me).
        Ansil849 5y ago
        Pedantism is trotting out the fact that yeah, you can find plenty of people still running Windows-whatever on their Gateways, or lovingly cared-for TRS that still "just works". The point is that by and large, Apple devices are built in with planned obsolescence in mind (see the lawsuit they settled a few months ago about literally this).
        lisper 5y ago
        > Apple devices are built in with planned obsolescence in mind. They are now. They didn't used to be. My 2012 MBP is still humming right along. Earlier models were repairable and expandable and even had easily replaceable batteries.
pram 5y ago
None? I had an iPod Touch that lived in my glovebox for 9 years and it never died. My Rio Karma on the other hand basically disintegrated. Thanks for asking!
vultour 5y ago
I've never even heard of a broken iPod, who are these people that have several lying around?
- kube-system 5y ago
  Way back when they had spinning disks, they were pretty failure prone. Although they were easy to replace, I vaguely remember replacing one myself.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

sascha_sl 5y ago

They might've sliced it into two parts on macOS, but it's still iTunes, with all the issues iTunes had.

concinds 5y ago

Sadly, Apple always gives the "latest and greatest" version all the security updates, and is more selective about backports, see here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212814 https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212814 for stuff you're unprotected from if you stay on iOS 14. This includes arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges. This has been the case for a long time for Apple, which forced me to break my Catalina boycott (remember the macOS Vista stories here?) because I don't want unfixed, publicized 0days on my machine.

saagarjha 5y ago

Here, I'll save you the trouble: download the iOS 14.8 IPSW for your device, and then in the Finder when your device is connected hold down the option key and hit "Update". Then select the IPSW and it'll update your device with that.

ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago

You can download the IPSW from ipsw.me (you actually grab the file straight from Apple and it's digitally signed, so the malware risk is zero) and perform the update yourself by option-clicking the Update button in the iPhone window in Finder.

lisper 5y ago
Thanks!