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by kjullien
2795 days ago
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Say I BOUGHT an iPhone 5 years ago, I think I should be allowed to run the software that came with it 5 years ago. I could not care less about security or privacy or the illusion thereof, all I care about is being able to use the device I paid for, and to be able to actually use it, not simply have a paper holder that acts as a constant reminder that I need to get the iPhone 123 XLSE or whatever version is out these days if I want to have the same experience I had with the phone when I took it out of the box 5 years ago. Not a worse one.
It is absolutely not a technical challenge to downgrade as I remember fairly vividly (some years ago) that a simple Jailbreak was enough to allow you to restore to any version you could want. I don't care about data loss.
The last thing is that this would not be the path the average consumer would take, it would simply be a possibility for people who do not want to trade "privacy" and "security" for usability. They have the technology, they have the resources, everything that could possibly be needed for this is already in place and has been since the iPhone 3G.
The only reason you cannot do it today is that Apple has servers that tell iTunes whether or not this image is allowed to be flashed onto the device. So the only reason is probably a text file hosted somewhere with contents along these lines :
Allowed:
>= 12
Disallowed:
< 12 |
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Ah but then when there is a bug that is exploited (e.g.SMS resetting phone) or a flaw that needs to be fixed (e.g. unexpected shutdown) then everyone is angry and pissed off because they haven't fixed it. It's damaging to their brand, and damaging for users who don't know/understand/care.
It's kind of a damned if they do, damned if they don't situation.
That said, they could just roll out security patches independently of new features - I believe Google is planning to do this in future Android releases via Project Treble - 1? Apps would rot though, as they update to use newer API features not available in the base OS.
Edit: I think project treble is just about easier OS updates and not modular security updates for older platforms
1 - https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2017/05/here-comes...