If you’re hanging onto an older iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch or Apple TV you’re not going to love this.
According to a leaker known as “StellaFudge,” virtually all of Apple’s online services except for iCloud will stop working on devices running iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, watchOS 4, and tvOS 11. The leak claims that users running this software will be notified about the upcoming limitation and to update their devices if possible.
In the past, StellaFudge has correctly leaked actual photos of the AirPods Max, AirTags, and details about products like the M1 iPad Pro and the iPhone 12 lineup.
Per MacRumors, an Apple support article that was published last month explains that “older software versions will no longer support Apple Services like the App Store, Siri, and Maps.”
Right now, even if you have a device as old as an iPhone 3GS, you can still use services like iMessage. Similar to that, iPhone 4 users can still make FaceTime calls. Of course, new features are not supported by these devices, but they never lost their original capabilities.
While this may boost sales in the short term by people forced to upgrade, it may hurt Apple’s brand and resale values in the long run.
The reasons for this are unclear, and Apple could be working on a major upgrade under the hood for its online services that would break support for some old software. WhatsApp, for example, blocks older devices from accessing the app every year due to lack of updates and new features.
Still, the number of users running old Apple software is considerably low. According to Apple, only 8 percent of iOS devices still run software prior to iOS 15. This means that the impact of limiting services to newer devices may not be huge. Still, it would mark the first time Apple has ever done this.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via 9to5Mac, MacRumors, and @StellaFudge