I think planned hardware obsolescence is usually bad. I have an iPhone XS. It can't be upgraded to iOS 26. Eventually, perhaps within the next year, it will cease to be eligible for security updates. Apart from this, I have no good reason to buy a new phone. With the latest iOS 18 and applications, its performance is fine, and it does what I want it to do. Disposing of it is obviously detrimental to the environment, but if I give it to someone else to use, it will be a security risk for them too. According to the articles I've read, Android devices have historically been worse in this respect. Some Android manufacturers committed to five years of software support, which is still worse than what Apple provided for my device. Of course, millions of Windows users are about to encounter a similar problem, as has been much publicised in recent months. One of my machines doesn't meet the minimum Windows 11 requirements, but it runs Windows 11 perfectly well after making Microsoft's official registry change to bypass the compatibility check. More importantly, it runs Linux comfortably, and will probably continue to do so until the hardware fails or the kernel community decides to stop supporting it. I suspect the former will occur first. We need a shift in values and policy that places greater value on hardware longevity.
#hardware #Android #iOS #Linux #sustainability