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My understanding is the chip makers, not just Apple but for Android that's Qualcomm, Samsung, etc. Apparently only the chip makers have the necessary info to r

My understanding is the chip makers, not just Apple but for Android that's Qualcomm, Samsung, etc. Apparently only the chip makers have the necessary info to release the drivers for the latest Linux kernel, unlike your laptop where newer versions of Linux can always be recompiled for your hardware without help from Intel or AMD. This is also why 3rd party Android distribution have to provide separate images for each device, while Debian can distribute a single image that works on any x86 machine.

fsflover 3y ago
You are not wrong, but the phone manufacturer could search for chips respecting the users if they really wanted. My GNU/Linux smartphones (Librem 5 and Pinephone) will work just like my laptop, with indefinite software updates.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  Apple employs the best chip designers on the planet and even they are struggling to make cellular chips that are as good as Qualcomm. And your phone isn’t going to last forever, carriers turn off older protocols and your phone is going to magically work with the newer ones.
  - fsflover 3y ago
    Apple intentionally chooses proprietary chip designers not respecting users' freedom. It forces users to regularly buy new devices and brings a lot of profit to Apple. (Apple doesn't care about the respective damage to the environment.) My phone is a general-purpose computer, which can be used to communicate without a mobile carrier if necessary. Also it allows to replace the modem with another one: it's on an M.2 card.
    - scarface_74 3y ago
      Who else are they suppose to choose that can make a performant 5G chip? And users don’t “regularly” have to buy new devices. The 2013 iPhone 5s is the first iPhone that supports LTE and it just got a security update this year. And how much larger and less battery efficient would a phone with a card be? What about the surrounding hardware? Could you just throw a 5G chip in a 2009 iPhone 3G?

fsflover 3y ago

You are not wrong, but the phone manufacturer could search for chips respecting the users if they really wanted. My GNU/Linux smartphones (Librem 5 and Pinephone) will work just like my laptop, with indefinite software updates.

scarface_74 3y ago
Apple employs the best chip designers on the planet and even they are struggling to make cellular chips that are as good as Qualcomm. And your phone isn’t going to last forever, carriers turn off older protocols and your phone is going to magically work with the newer ones.
- fsflover 3y ago
  Apple intentionally chooses proprietary chip designers not respecting users' freedom. It forces users to regularly buy new devices and brings a lot of profit to Apple. (Apple doesn't care about the respective damage to the environment.) My phone is a general-purpose computer, which can be used to communicate without a mobile carrier if necessary. Also it allows to replace the modem with another one: it's on an M.2 card.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    Who else are they suppose to choose that can make a performant 5G chip? And users don’t “regularly” have to buy new devices. The 2013 iPhone 5s is the first iPhone that supports LTE and it just got a security update this year. And how much larger and less battery efficient would a phone with a card be? What about the surrounding hardware? Could you just throw a 5G chip in a 2009 iPhone 3G?