- cross-posted to:
- linuxphones@lemmy.ca
- cross-posted to:
- linuxphones@lemmy.ca
Every line in the boot path is code we wrote. There is zero Apple code between power-on and Linux. The bootloader is ours, top to bottom. To our knowledge, no one has done this on an A13 device before.
They’re the least bad guys.
Apple is great on longevity, but that’s not the issue here. Chip innovation has plateaued in recent years, so a 7-year-old iPhone is still plenty powerful. The hardware is solid, yet Apple locks the bootloader and never documents the chips, so running Linux on one means relying on exploits and reverse engineering.
In the 90s, the jump from 16 MHz to 233 MHz changed what a computer could do. A 1990 PC couldn’t run a 1997 game like Quake at all, and a 233 MHz machine ran it smoothly with 3D graphics. Today, going from 2.65 GHz to 4.26 GHz doesn’t unlock anything new. A 7-year-old phone runs the same apps and games as a brand-new one.
Once official support ends, you can’t just install another OS and keep using it. Great hardware, but not exactly open.
Again, this is comparing technology to technology rather than comparing technology to environmental impact. We need to extract these tech bro soundbites from our craniums.
It really is not. These devices become ewaste in roughly 7-9 years. But in my drawer are Apple phones that are almost 20 years old. They would be fine if Apple hadn’t let them become abandoned and security compromised. Please stop defending their negligence and mediocrity.
Fair points, and I think we mostly agree.
I’m not defending Apple. The point is that the hardware outlasts the software support, and because the bootloader is locked, you can’t do anything about it once updates stop. That’s the e-waste problem you’re describing.
I’d only add that support has improved from the early iPhones, which got just a few years of updates, to 6-7 years now. That’s better, but it’s still a company-set expiry date on perfectly good hardware.
Open bootloaders and documented chips would let those phones in your drawer stay useful.
Fair. And yes, it’s an unusual situation to be in where the Fairphone and iPhone seem to have similar support lifespans now.
I think we should organise to lobby our governments to force tech manufacturers to make obsolete devices unlocked and open spec in the way you mentioned (boot loaders and documented chips). Volunteers should have no barriers to maintain and support what would otherwise become landfill fodder.