I always like to see the difference in habits when renewing devices between the public more fond of technology and the general user who generally owns it out of necessity. While the hobbyist is able to renew their iPhone every two years or even annually on a whim or by claiming a fault that could be fixed with a repair, the general user is able to keep working with it. an iPhone 5S and still complaining about the perverse obsolescence. technology companies when they see that they have no choice but to renew their terminal.
Not everyone is like that, naturally: most people are common ground and I’m talking about extremes. It’s something that helps me show how everyone’s perception of technology can lead to very opposing views. In this debate, How has Apple handled its position lately to defend itself against accusations of planned obsolescence?
Apple isn’t perfect, but there are efforts to make its devices last as long as possible.
Personally I think we have to admit that there are efforts (not perfect, but there are) by Apple to make their devices last as long as possible. Just yesterday we received the news of the declaration of the iPad 2 as an officially obsolete product. He was already classified as vintage, but with the move to the obsolete category, the company is no longer able to offer support and repairs on the tablet. Because yes, Apple still offered a certain level of support for a tablet released ten years ago. Ten years!
Those same ten years is the lifespan of Mac models, which are currently living their last moments of life after the renewal of some of their components (many are expanding their RAM and replacing their original hard drive with a faster SSD). But in the case of tablets, whose evolution has been exponential and therefore left the first generations as very clumsy and slow devices.
So it’s all the more commendable that there are people out there who still use the iPad 2, and trust me when I say there are. It is more, among my clients there are still those who show me an original iPad, this brick 800 grams, wondering if they can still be compatible with services like Dropbox or Spotify. My response is that they frame this device as it may already be part of a museum collection, but I also add my congratulations for enduring so long using a tablet that everyone considers already antediluvian. .
Apple Silicon’s accelerated evolution will not inherit this problem
Something also related to this issue is what some people have already started asking me and I commented in the space What did I do with my partner Pedro Aznar on Twitter: given the rumors of a possible arrival of the M2 chip in the fall, buyers of a Mac equipped with an M1 chip are starting to fear the possible obsolescence of these models. Their argument: the original iPhone didn’t last at all, the original iPad didn’t last at all … What if the same thing happened to the first Apple Silicon Mac?
I don’t think it will. The performance of the M1 chip has jumped so far compared to Intel-based Macs that macOS will be able to be compatible with it for many years. My personal opinion is that the first Macs with an M1 chip are trailblazers, they will last for many years and maybe what will start to look old is their design once Apple changes the look of all of its machines. . I hope my Mac mini M1 will last a good season, as I don’t intend to renew it for many, many years unless there is an inevitable need to do so.
In the end, of course, Apple could do its job better. But it is clear that the company is making efforts to ensure that its terminals last for many years. Because maybe you love photography and want to switch from an iPhone X to an iPhone 13 for cameras (and that’s great), but the general user who uses their iPhone for social media , messaging, navigation, multimedia and messaging can last with this iPhone X for three more years if you take good care of the phone. And surely with iOS updated to the latest version.
From now on, we should see how Apple continues to extend the life of its devices, while continuing to offer ways to recycle all of its components and offer you discounts if you decide to change it at any time. For its environmental goals alone, I think Apple’s work over the past few years deserves praise.