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apple is reluctant to phase out the iphone xr

phoenix.com technology news, september 11, beijing time, iphone xr was released in september 2018, and it has been 6 years old. however, on monday, apple promised to continue to support it, allowing this old phone to fight until the seventh year. so why is apple reluctant to eliminate it?

every year, apple lists some older iphone models as obsolete and no longer provides software support. last year, apple stopped supporting three iphone models. the year before, more models were phased out. this creates a lucrative revenue stream for apple because most users choose to upgrade to a new model, spending at least $500, a so-called "upgrade cycle" that cheers investors.

this year, apple went the other way and did not eliminate any iphone models. the new ios 18 system supports the same older devices as ios 17. now, apple supports up to 28 iphone models (including the second and third generation iphone se).

ios 18 is compatible with 28 iphone models

doesn't apple want to earn billions of dollars in lucrative revenue from the "upgrade cycle"? or is it just out of goodwill? this is part of the reason. apple cares deeply about what users think of its technology. if a large number of iphones were "bricked" every year, it would undoubtedly cause a negative reaction.

but there's more to it than that. apple is slowly rolling out ai features to some of its latest iphones, with its "apple intelligence" system not expected to be fully available until 2025. meanwhile, google and samsung already have android phones on the market with more ai capabilities.

if apple phases out two or three older iphones now, there will be millions of consumers who want to buy new smartphones. what if some of them try to experience the new ai features through android phones? even if a small number of these old iphone users switch to the android camp, it will be a blow to apple. in recent years, apple's user base has continued to increase, so it is crucial to keep all users on the ios platform. when the "apple intelligence" system is perfected next year, users are more likely to choose a new iphone for upgrade.

"apple doesn't want anyone to defect," wedbush securities technology analyst dan ives said on monday. (author/xiao yu)

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