Apple made an awful lot of announcements at WWDC17 this week including iOS 11. As with every iOS announcement, iOS 11 is being touted as the most feature packed update ever. While there are a bunch of new features some will get excited about, there is one that many will not like so much and that’s lost support for 32-bit devices and apps. That’s right, iOS 11 will not work on your 5-year old iPhone 5 or 4-year old iPhone 5c. This doesn’t mean your old iPhone 5 or 5c can’t still be used, it just means they can go no further in updating the operating system or its apps.
This really shouldn’t come as a shock to most of us who follow technology news. Most of the tech community and press were tipped off earlier this year that 32-bit support would not be in the next iOS version and here we are. The iPhone 5s and above will still be able to take advantage of iOS 11 and support since Apple moved to 64-bit hardware starting with the 5s. While I can certainly sympathize with those who own older 32-bit iPhones that still work fine, this is the way of technology.
The iPhone 5 and 5c have gotten support over the past 4-5 years and that’s actually pretty impressive for a mobile device. Many are saying that Apple is simply doing this to force you to upgrade to the latest iPhone, but you really don’t need to do that either. There are plenty of used iPhone 6 devices and above that are available at decent prices and will support iOS 11 and the move to 64-bit apps. While it’s a bummer for those who own these older devices, it’s really not a shock or surprise that Apple is moving on. Maybe it’s time for others to move on with them?
Do you own an iPhone 5 or 5c? What do you think of losing support? Will you be upgrading to the latest iPhone 8? Or will you buy a used iPhone 6 or above? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
