Re: What's wrong with Apple's patching?
So far, Apple has stopped supporting 32-bit devices up to iPhone 5. All 64-bit devices from iPhone 5s (launched almost exactly 6 years ago) onward are still supported. The move from 32 to 64 bit architecture is a valid reason to stop support; aside from the cost effectiveness, it’s perfectly possible that some bugs are far more difficult to patch/require a completely different patching solution in 32bit.
”And make no mistake, a bug, such as these classic buffer overflow and not validating input bugs, are defects in the device. So yes, they should still be issuing security patches that fix device defects for quite a while.“
Six years IS a while. Even the EU, one of the world’s strictest champions of consumer rights, indicates ~5years as a reasonable lifespan for expensive consumer electronics.
Of course the upcoming iOS 13 stops support for much newer devices such as the iPhone 6 and iPad Air; in my view this is harder to justify.
