iOS 9 & OS X 10.11 to bring ‘quality’ focus, smaller apps, legacy iPhone/iPad support

[Excelsior]

http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/22/ios-9...-rootless-security-legacy-iphoneipad-support/

My favorite part of the article:

Instead of developing a feature-complete version of iOS 9 for older hardware and then removing a handful of features that do not perform well during testing, Apple is now building a core version of iOS 9 that runs efficiently on older A5 devices, then enabling each properly performing feature one-by-one. Thanks to this new approach, an entire generation (or two) of iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches will be iOS 9-compatible rather than reaching the end of the iOS line.

 

[Rakehellion]

>10.11

 

[mmntech]

I don't like the sounds of this "Rootless" feature. It theoretically will end attempts to jailbreak iOS. There's too many Cydia tweaks I rely on like iFile and Flux. Especially on my iPad. At least you can disable it on OS X, supposedly.

I do like that they're still providing support for A5 devices.

 

[Eug]

What, really? Our aging and now slow iPad 2 will get iOS 9? Colour me surprised.

 

[mmntech]

What, really? Our aging and now slow iPad 2 will get iOS 9? Colour me surprised.

I'm not surprised at all. MacRumors published user share statistics last fall, before the 6 came out. A5 devices accounted for 62% of iPads and 21% of iPhones.
http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/08/iphone-5-ipad-2-usage/

I think Apple has gotten to the point where they've just accepted that they're going to have to keep supporting older devices. The iPads don't have the luxury of telco subsidies to keep up front costs down. So people aren't replacing them. Plus Apple still sells three A5 devices.

 

[Rakehellion]

What, really? Our aging and now slow iPad 2 will get iOS 9? Colour me surprised.

Minus features.

But a 2008 MacBook can run Yosemite, so why not?

 

[Eug]

Minus features.

But a 2008 MacBook can run Yosemite, so why not?

My 2008 MacBook can't run Yosemite but it's an early 2008 white one.

But anyway the reason why it's different with MacBooks is because you can upgrade the HD to SSD easily and the memory too, and the CPU is so much faster than was needed for the time. All that is required for Yosemite is an appropriate GPU. A Core 2 Duo with 4-8 GB RAM is actually sufficient for most casual users even in 2015. Heck, I'm a geek and my primary laptop is still a C2D with 4 GB RAM, a 2009 MacBook Pro.

In contrast, the iPad 2/mini are stuck with the very constraining 512 MB RAM. If it could somehow get 1 GB RAM it'd do so much better.

As it stands right now, iOS 8.3 is painful on the iPad 2.

I suspect this was not Apple's intent. They're a year behind with the iPad mini updates, as the lame iPad mini 3 illustrates.

It doesn't have to be so painful though. iOS 8.3 on the iPad 2 is more bloated than it needs to be. I'm optimistic Apple's new approach for iOS 9 will actually make it more responsive on the iPad 2/mini than iOS 8.3 currently is. Screw Apple Watch induced bloat.

 

[Excelsior]

Yeah Eug, I've kept from updating my iPad mini 1st gen to iOS8 because of your report and others on how slow it is. This gives me hope that I'll be able to continue using it because it honestly is still enjoyable to use with iOS 7.

And hell, I'm also happy with my late 2008 MBP because as you said, the memory and HD can be easily upgraded. I'm running 8GB and two SSDs so it truly flies. It's a testament to the Core 2 Duo that it still feels so quick today. It seems like the direction really is lowering power usage, increasing battery life, and cutting weight. I can't think of a reason I'd need more speed with this computer unless I gamed, compiled, or rendered on it.

 

[Artdeco]

Curious what the battery life is like on the older devices after 2 years?

 

[Ichinisan]

Curious what the battery life is like on the older devices after 2 years?

Double that to 4 years. iPad 2 was released March 2011.

My iPad mini 2 (retina) was purchased when it launched in late 2013. Battery life still kicks ass after 1.5 years, so I'm sure it won't be much different in 6 months than it is right now.

 

[Eug]

Battery life is still good on the iPad 2. Surprising good.

And yes, mine is over 4 years old, as I bought mine on launch day, which in Canada was March 25, 2011. I haven't measured the battery life, but it feels like a very long time. Certainly it's way better than my 2012 Nexus 7.

Too bad they almost effectively borked the iPad 2 with iOS 8.3. Stupid @#Y^@#$ iWatch. Here's hoping iOS 9 brings the iPad 2 to iOS 7 (or even iOS 8.1.3) performance.

 

[ultimatebob]

Battery life is still good on the iPad 2. Surprising good.

And yes, mine is over 4 years old, as I bought mine on launch day, which in Canada was March 25, 2011. I haven't measured the battery life, but it feels like a very long time. Certainly it's way better than my 2012 Nexus 7.

Too bad they almost effectively borked the iPad 2 with iOS 8.3. Stupid @#Y^@#$ iWatch. Here's hoping iOS 9 brings the iPad 2 to iOS 7 (or even iOS 8.1.3) performance.

Yeah, that iPad 2's performance started going downhill with iOS 7. I'm amazed that even bothered to make iOS 8 backward compatible with it.

 

[dragantoe]

This made me curious to see how long the nexus 10 will last. it's still plenty powerful for content consumption and has a gorgeous screen, I just hope it gets android m...

 

[smackababy]

Not a fan. If you're still on a 3+ year old iPhone, you're a peasant and don't deserve any of the glorious functionality of a new OS. Oh, I bet you think Vista should have ran on that PC you bought when XP first came out too...

 

[Excelsior]

Not a fan. If you're still on a 3+ year old iPhone, you're a peasant and don't deserve any of the glorious functionality of a new OS. Oh, I bet you think Vista should have ran on that PC you bought when XP first came out too...

Uh...they won't get the same functionality. That's the point.

"Apple is now building a core version of iOS 9 that runs efficiently on older A5 devices, then enabling each properly performing feature one-by-one."

 

[Oyeve]

Not a fan. If you're still on a 3+ year old iPhone, you're a peasant and don't deserve any of the glorious functionality of a new OS. Oh, I bet you think Vista should have ran on that PC you bought when XP first came out too...

Um, vista didnt run well on ANYTHING!

 

[rugby]

Up until a year or so ago Apple still solid iPad 2's to edu in bulk. THAT'S where they all are right now.

 

[Eug]

Up until a year or so ago Apple still solid iPad 2's to edu in bulk. THAT'S where they all are right now.

True dat. Plus as others have mentioned, they're STILL selling the iPad mini, which has the same internals. I was expecting they'd drop it in 2014.

Meanwhile, my next laptop purchase will likely be Core M Skylake (or later) with H.265 in hardware, and USB C/Thunderbolt. Hopefully that will last a while like my MacBook Pro 2009 with H.264 in hardware. I guess I'll be running OS X 10.11 El Capitan on it soon.

 

[wilds]

I must say, this approach to supporting legacy hardware is really impressive. I plan on using my MPB as my primary computer until hell freezes over.

 

[Eug]

I must say, this approach to supporting legacy hardware is really impressive. I plan on using my MPB as my primary computer until hell freezes over.

Hell has already frozen over. Apple said they're making an app for Android.

 

[Eug]

This is potentially good news as it works in the betas - TRIM support for 3rd party SSDs is back in El Capitan.

 

[ViRGE]

Hell has already frozen over. Apple said they're making an app for Android.

Huh. That's a really good point.

 

[Essence_of_War]

This is potentially good news as it works in the betas - TRIM support for 3rd party SSDs is back in El Capitan.

*Does jig*

Halle-freaking-lujah. This was mega annoying.

 

[Eug]

TRIM is coming back to Yosemite in 10.10.4 too. Nice.

https://www.cindori.org/trim-in-os-x-el-capitan/

In Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan, Apple has done a full 180 and opened up parts of their driver that allows access to Trim functionality.

This is great news for Mac users around the world that are using 3rd party SSD’s. In Yosemite, we had to deal with lifting a lot of security features in order to benefit from Trim.

With this new driver functionality, we can enable Trim in El Cap (and upcoming Yosemite 10.10.4) without risking the issues with gray boot screen.

Updates are coming soon to Trim Enabler and Disk Sensei to take advantage of the Apple sanctioned way of enabling Trim. We’re finally going to get Trim on the Mac without compromising system security or stability.

 

[ControlD]

TRIM is coming back to Yosemite in 10.10.4 too. Nice.

Seems kind of sad to get excited about a feature that should be included in any modern operating system though. Only Apple can get kudos for adding breakthrough features like TRIM and full screen access to programs in this day and age.

Guess I might finally make the upgrade now. I refused to do so to this point knowing what they did with TRIM on the initial release.