Apple is introducing its latest iPhone 16 in September, meaning the company is making yet another device redundant.
This fall, the iPhone 15 model will not be eligible for the standard update, making it the fastest model ever to roll off Apple’s shelves since its September 2023 release.
Normally, a device is considered “obsolete” once it has been seven years since Apple stopped selling it. However, because “vintage” devices have been out of production for between five and seven years, users can still get replacement parts for two years.
When a new iPhone is released, the previous device remains available for sale at a reduced price.
Despite the short lifespan of the model 15, the company will reportedly not deliver the latest features of the latest iOS 18 update. However, series 11 through 14 will still be compatible with the software.
This fall, the iPhone 15 model will not be eligible for the standard update, making it the fastest model ever to roll off Apple’s shelves
Apple’s business model is based on people buying new products, rather than falling back on devices they bought years ago. As a result, they have become obsolete, according to one Fordham Law Review.
“Apple’s business depends on selling its products to consumers and therefore ‘value is monetized through a one-time payment,'” the assessment said.
It continued: ‘But like all companies, Apple has an interest in stable sales. This is where the tactic of planned obsolescence comes in.’
However, the latest development is that the iPhone 15 is not included in the iOS 18 update, which could support claims that Apple is phasing out the device in record time, according to 9to5Mac.
New iOS updates typically cause Apple users to upgrade from older phones that don’t support the software updates, leaving their data vulnerable to cybercriminals.
The lack of an iOS 18 update may not be enough to render the iPhone 15 obsolete entirely, but it could pose a problem for sales, which began to decline less than a month after the device’s release.
Within a week of its release, complaints about the iPhone 15 series began to surface. Users reported that the device became too hot to touch while charging, got stuck during setup, and that the iOS system was slow.
When the iPhone 15 launched, users reported that it had major shortcomings, including short battery life and fewer features than other models, including mediocre AI features and a worse photography lens than its predecessor, the iPhone 14.
However, the iPhone 16 will bring improvements such as Apple Intelligence, an action button, camera updates and other features that may knock the previous model off buyers’ radar.
OS 18 is seen as Apple’s biggest update in the company’s history, which will integrate large language models (LLMS) and generative AI into iWork apps
iOS 18 is said to be Apple’s biggest update in the company’s history, the large language models (LLMS) and generative KI in iWork apps.
The update is expected to include a revised version of Siri that uses AI and LLMs to provide more intelligent and accurate answers.
The Messages app will also get its own new features that are said to ‘Questions in the field and autocomplete sentences.’
Apple is expected to add AI features to Siri, allowing Siri to provide more accurate answers, while the Messages app will “answer questions and autocomplete sentences,” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter.
“I’ve heard that the new operating system is being touted within the company as one of the biggest iOS updates, if not the biggest, in the company’s history.”