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> She calls it malware, if she was an Apple engineer, she should be able to give a hint where to look so that interested parties can disassemble the code and in

> She calls it malware, if she was an Apple engineer, she should be able to give a hint where to look so that interested parties can disassemble the code and investigate There is a bunch of HN comments complaining that the new iOS is significantly slower on older devices [0]. It even led to unusually slow adoption [1]. Then, Apple tried to force older devices to upgrade [2]. Previously, Apple deliberately slowed old iPhones down and got fined for that [3]. How can you still give the benefit of the doubt after all this? > It seems to me that it's much easier to just not optimize new code paths for older devices The new iOS is much heavier for all devices. There is nothing specific for older devices. It looks like a deliberate attempt to kill older devices though, just like they did before. And it is extremely profitable for Apple to do that. Deliberately designed software to make your experience worse in order to gain some profit is nothing else than malware, isn't it? [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45544181 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45544181 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46548654 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46548654 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46134965 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46134965 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18292417 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18292417

tristanj 5mo ago
There is no intentional slowing. These phones are just old. If you replaced the processor inside an older phone with the latest gen one, you would not notice any performance gap. Smartphone CPUs are improving exponentially at 20% per year. A 5 year old processor will have half the performance of the latest generation processor. Smartphones are one of the very few industries improving exponentially. Most people do not comprehend this. For example, mature technologies such as internal combustion engine vehicles really only improve a few percentage points per year. You could buy a car from 10-20 years ago and it would not feel obsolete.
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- fsflover 5mo ago
  > These phones are just old. If you replaced the processor inside an older phone Are you saying that the processor got slower with time? The same, old tasks got slower, not new ones. > There is no intentional slowing. There was proven intentional slowing. Why are you so sure it can't happen again, given it's still profitable?
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  - tristanj 5mo ago
    No. The operating system, nearly all apps, and most websites are designed to run on faster hardware. The hardware in modern phones is improving by double digit percentages each year. Websites add more features. Apps do the same. Same with the operating system. iOS has added hundreds of features over the past 5 years. Software is optimized to perform well on current generation hardware, not old hardware. The smartphone industry is the fastest improving industry on the planet, and devices become obsolete faster than most people comprehend. It's a perception issue. Most other technologies are mature and older devices work fine without issue. A microwave sold 20 years ago performs the same as a modern one, but a 20 year old phone is ancient.
    - fsflover 5mo ago
      There is no reason to completely rewrite the well-designed and working parts of the OS like Settings or Camera, apart from making it intentionally heavy and slow on older hardware. Or for promotion of managers, with the same end result. See also: enshittification. Did you find any actual improvements anywhere after the update?
      - tristanj 5mo ago
        > There is no reason to completely rewrite the well-designed and working parts of the OS This is completely untrue. > Did you find any actual improvements anywhere after the update? Yes, I prefer when devices I pay for get free software updates that add dozens of features per year that I use. I enjoy getting security updates. I enjoy new features.

tristanj 5mo ago

There is no intentional slowing. These phones are just old. If you replaced the processor inside an older phone with the latest gen one, you would not notice any performance gap. Smartphone CPUs are improving exponentially at 20% per year. A 5 year old processor will have half the performance of the latest generation processor. Smartphones are one of the very few industries improving exponentially. Most people do not comprehend this. For example, mature technologies such as internal combustion engine vehicles really only improve a few percentage points per year. You could buy a car from 10-20 years ago and it would not feel obsolete.

deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
fsflover 5mo ago
> These phones are just old. If you replaced the processor inside an older phone Are you saying that the processor got slower with time? The same, old tasks got slower, not new ones. > There is no intentional slowing. There was proven intentional slowing. Why are you so sure it can't happen again, given it's still profitable?
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]
- tristanj 5mo ago
  No. The operating system, nearly all apps, and most websites are designed to run on faster hardware. The hardware in modern phones is improving by double digit percentages each year. Websites add more features. Apps do the same. Same with the operating system. iOS has added hundreds of features over the past 5 years. Software is optimized to perform well on current generation hardware, not old hardware. The smartphone industry is the fastest improving industry on the planet, and devices become obsolete faster than most people comprehend. It's a perception issue. Most other technologies are mature and older devices work fine without issue. A microwave sold 20 years ago performs the same as a modern one, but a 20 year old phone is ancient.
  - fsflover 5mo ago
    There is no reason to completely rewrite the well-designed and working parts of the OS like Settings or Camera, apart from making it intentionally heavy and slow on older hardware. Or for promotion of managers, with the same end result. See also: enshittification. Did you find any actual improvements anywhere after the update?
    - tristanj 5mo ago
      > There is no reason to completely rewrite the well-designed and working parts of the OS This is completely untrue. > Did you find any actual improvements anywhere after the update? Yes, I prefer when devices I pay for get free software updates that add dozens of features per year that I use. I enjoy getting security updates. I enjoy new features.