Apple has notoriously supported their older iPhones and iPad’s for years after they are introduced. Their ability to offer free upgrades for all these devices at the same time year after year has always been one of their more attractive “features.” It has always been in their best interest to keep everyone on their newest software versions, and they roll out updates to more devices and have a higher adoption rate then any other mobile platform. You can argue all day about “why” Android can’t compete with that kind of update cycle, and I get it. However, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter to you if you are the one waiting months longer than someone with a newer phone to receive your update.
Having said that, older iPhones incrementally lose their ability to run/process some of the newest iOS features simply do to older processor speeds or upgrades to hardware. This is a natural progression and will continue to “force” customers to upgrade to newer iPhones/iPad’s/iPod Touches every 3-4 years if they want to run the newest version of iOS.
This is year is no exception. iOS 8 will no longer support the A4 processor chip running in the iPhone 4. That’s not to say that it wouldn’t “work” on the iPhone 4 altogether. Rather, it usually means that Apple has decided the user experience would be degraded to a point that the customer would most likely be frustrated and have a poor experience. What does this mean? Say goodbye to the possibility of running iOS 8 on your iPhone 4.
iOS 8 will support the following devices with A5 CPU chips and higher
- iPhone 4S
- iPhone 5
- iPhone 5C
- iPhone 5S
- iPhone 6?
- iPad 2
- iPad 3 (retina display)
- iPad 4
- iPad Air
- iPad mini
- iPad mini w/retina display
[UPDATE: 6/9 @ 2:44 p.m.]
I forgot to add that the 5th Gen iPod Touch will also be compatible with iOS 8.
Thanks, Josh!
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS: iOS 8, iOS 8 supported devices, ipad 3, iPad 4, iPad Air, ipad mini, iPad mini with retina display, iphone 4s, iphone 5, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S, iPhone 6
