Honestly they could just choose to disable iMessages on older devices. For the vast majority of people using those old devices, it would just change the bubble

Honestly they could just choose to disable iMessages on older devices. For the vast majority of people using those old devices, it would just change the bubble color and Apple wouldn’t fear any backlash. I’m not saying they should, but knowing Apple, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they decided to do it.