Need help determining length of support for iPod Touch 5th gen
I am thinking about picking up the 16GB iPod Touch for my four year old twins. I've read all of the reviews and done my research on various gadgets, I am platform neutral (owning Android and iOS devices, and I'm aware of my options. I am leaning towards the iPod Touch for lots of reasons that I won't bore you with.
My only reservation is the timetable for when Apple will withdraw support in terms of iOS updates. Some of the earlier generations were only supported a couple of years. I understand that Apple is better than most Android OEMs on this, but would it be reasonable for me to expect that the iPod touch 5th gen would be able to handle iOS9? 10?
And obviously, I'm not buying anything until after the keynote tomorrow.
Posted Jun 1, 2014, 6:44 PM UTC
Personally, I think support will end at iOS 8. Why? (This is based on assumptions, no guarantee that this is correct.)
Support for iPod touch 4 was terminated at iOS 6, the same version that the 5th Gen was released at,
Apple seems to have moved to a two year release cycle for new models of the iPod touch, ignoring the the minimally tweaked half-way model (16 GB 5th Gen, White 4th Gen). The half way models have the same lifespan as the originals. This could mean that the release of a 6th gen would be this fall, putting it's base iOS version at iOS 8, and if this is true, than Apple will most likely end support for the 5th Gen at iOS 8.
Following the trend of the iPod touch 1st, 3rd and 4th Gen, it would be expected that it only supports 3 years of firmwares. (iOS 6, 7 and 8)
That's my thought, I may edit if I think of anything else. In any case, it is a good idea to hold off until the Keynote.
Thank you. This was my line of thinking as well. The only thought I have that contradicts this is the possibility that because the hardware is more impressive these days, it would be a little more future-proof.
I'm also probably over thinking this...we rarely hold out more than 2 years before we upgrade, anyway.
Also, if the 5th gen doesn't get iOS9, it shouldn't become a brick, right? (Unlike the 2nd gen we just dug up last night boasting iOS4...)
Really, the iPod touch 5 isn't that impressive. The hardware is basically the RAM of the iPhone 4 with the iPhone 4s' processor. Not too hard to believe it would be dropped.
As for becoming obsolete, I would doubt it. Eventually, as with everything, it would have little value left, but it should remain modern enough for most things for a few years at least. My iPod touch 4, while slow, still does the job fine on iOS 6.
Good to know... Do you have issues with apps being incompatible on your 4th gen with iOS6?
Not really, most still support it pretty well, except for games like GTA: San Andreas, just because of how slow it can be. There are few apps that I have found that have iOS 7 only restrictions on them.
Actually the iPod touch 5h gen is made of the same A5 chip (and same RAM) found inside the iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and iPad mini.
The iPod touch 4th was left behind in iOS 6 because of the RAM, and iPhone 4 because of its single core A4 which was a real performance issue.
My hope is that the iPod touch 5 will make it to iOS 9, since the other A5 devices should made it (at least ipad mini).