I am 100% sure that more 2nd-3rd user iphones are circulating in active use than the lineage os downloads summed together ever. Like, it’s not really a thing for the general populace.
Last official update from galaxy s4: Android 5.0.1 in 2015 [1]
Last official update to iPhone 5s: iOS 12.5.7 in 2023 [2]
I’m well aware that you’re speaking of custom roms, but insinuating that this is solving ewaste issues is disingenuous at best. No ewaste is fixed by us nerds flashing custom roms through adb incantations in out of support hardware.
And despite all of that, I can still use the Galaxy S4 (or even the Galaxy S3 if you really cared, specs are a bit low but it still works) as a daily driver with a modern Android version whereas the iPhone 5 or the iPhone 4 can only end up in the bin, there's nothing to be done about it.
Maybe that's a lesson to learn that we should require open bootloaders and more open systems to reduce ewaste. If Android devices were more opened, this amazing effort to save devices could be even better. As we go forward, more and more older devices will simply be good enough if you could just install software updates onto it.
And as of "nerds", I may point out that the general public doesn't reinstall their windows either and just go to a repair shop.
I honestly don’t get this sentiment, and why Apple is targeted for these — this is objectively the one category where Apple is unlike every other phone manufacturer. How many people walk around with 8 years old any Android phones? I bet that number is insanely small, yet I see it everyday in case of iphones, which manage to get 2 or even 3 owners in their lifetime.
Look at the resell value of any other phone, it basically drops to zero the moment you open the box, while even older iphones get sold for very fair prices. And getting that many years out of a phone is absolutely stellar.
Perhaps, but their policies and support for old hardware far exceeds anything you see in the Android world. But you point out THIS "shitty company" while not throwing your gaze towards all the other "shitty companies" like Samsung, or Google, or Sony, or Microsoft. Could it be that your disdain for the type of people that buy Apple products just rings through? The tried and true "them" vs "me" attitude.
Personally, I just let strangers like what they want to like. WTF do I care if they like this phone instead of this other phone.
It literally does - their devices easily reach 8-10 years of active usage, and we are talking about something that is used more than your shoes per day, actively charged-discharged each day, thrown around/fallen down, etc. Like that’s a great lifetime however we look at it, and it might need one or two battery replacements max for that.
The entire point is that yes, all of them are doing it and Apple isn't this golden savior among them that some make them out to be. They trump everyone else in certain aspects like longevity of software updates and privacy, doesn't mean they don't partake in costumer-hostile actions nor does it mean we should excuse those.
1 phone that’s not thrown away is 1000s of parts saved.