It’s rare enough to be stressed. A phone released in 2015 has received a new update. Almost 9 years after its release, the iPhone 6s was offered a upgrade to iOS 15.8.1. which is surprising since Apple is at version 17 of its mobile operating system (well, 17.3 to be very precise).
A mobile “abandoned” two years ago
The mobile was however “officially” abandoned by Apple in 2021, when it was announced that after 7 years of software monitoring it would not move to iOS 16. But in the name of security, Apple made an exception and therefore released a new minor update of iOS 15. The latter does not include any new functionality, but simply patches 2 annoying flaws which allow remote commands to be executed on the device via the Safari browser.
The iPhone 6s is not the only one to be eligible for this update. All phones and tablets stuck on iOS 15 were entitled to their little update package. This includes the iPhone 7, the first generation iPhone SE and even the iPad Air 2, released in 2014. The 7th generation iPod touch and iPad Mini 4 are also affected.
Already considered the iPhone with the longest software durability in history, the iPhone 6s is still breaking records. But in reality, this is far from the first time that Apple has rolled out updates to its old iPhones. In September 2022, Apple, for example, released a new version of iOS 12 (for iPhone 5s) to patch critical security vulnerabilities. Ditto in December of the same year when iOS 15 (again) received a minor security update.
The dream of a mobile that lasts 10 years
We can only applaud Apple, which provides unprecedented software monitoring in the mobile industry. By continuing to deploy updates, even minor ones, the manufacturer allows owners to keep their phones longer and avoid falling into the infernal race for renewal which exhausts the planet and the wallet. Remember that at least 70% of the digital carbon footprint is due to the production of terminals and that, therefore, the most ecological phone is the one you already have in your pocket.
Thanks to this update, Apple is getting closer to the dream of a phone that can be used for 10 years. A perspective imagined by Arcep in 2021 in a report on the pace of smartphone renewal and its impact on the digital carbon footprint. Software obsolescence was named as one of the “very determining explanatory factors of renewal“, alongside cultural and material obsolescence.
This symbolic blow to software obsolescence, however, highlights Apple’s lack of transparency on the subject. iOS 15 has had the right to numerous “exceptional” patches, but the manufacturer has still not clarified its policy in terms of “functional” updates and so-called “security” updates. Let’s hope that with competition from Google and Samsung, the company has some nice surprises in store for us for 2024.