About the security content of iOS 12.4.9 • Hacker News Board

Re: About the security content of iOS 12.4.9

#61

Post by swiley » Thu, Nov 05, 2020, 9:26 PM UTC

asimilator wrote: post #24

swiley wrote: post #4

Maybe I got hit with one of these, my phone stopped being able to answer phone calls and auto focus stopped working (like something re flashed the firmware on a bunch of the internal peripherals.) I was going to wait until the software on my pinephone was more mature but that pushed me over the edge to get power management working on my own and make sure it could make phone calls. I think dumping iOS has done a lot f…

> I was going to wait until the software on my pinephone was more mature but that pushed me over the edge to get power management working on my own and make sure it could make phone calls. I guess stress is personal, because this sounds way more stressful than anything I've had to deal with on iOS! And I say that as someone who'd like to get a more open (hardware and software) phone in the future.

iOS wasn't stressing me directly, it was that the UI is built to encourage compulsive media consumption and that was eating into other parts of my life like work (which is stressful.)

Re: About the security content of iOS 12.4.9

#62

Post by Dahoon » Thu, Nov 05, 2020, 9:28 PM UTC

jtbayly wrote: post #49

Y-bar wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't last official sale date be a better indicator of true device support? For example if someone bought it in an Apple store on the last day available, how long period would they have received updates for? For example in mid 2017 it was still officially sold by Apple in India (source: https://www.iphonehacks.com/2017/05/apple-iphone-5s-iphone-s... ).

No, because devices can be and sometimes are sold with software that is already out of date. The better indicator is how long software support is provided for a device from beginning to end.

Sure but that doesn't change how long they supported after end of sale which wasn't in 2013 but at least until 2017. So ~3 years of software updates from end of sale. Still OK but not anything special.

Re: About the security content of iOS 12.4.9

#63

Post by Dahoon » Thu, Nov 05, 2020, 9:29 PM UTC

curt15 wrote: post #22

namanaggarwal wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also to Google for finding majority of them

If only Google could put this much effort into supporting its own Pixel devices, which stop getting updates to the base OS after just three years.

>after just three years

The 5S was sold from Apple stores in India in mid 2017. So that's 3 years of updates from end-of-sale and this is an OS update for a 2 year old OS. So two years of support. Less than the Pixel.

Re: About the security content of iOS 12.4.9

#64

Post by beagle3 » Thu, Nov 05, 2020, 9:31 PM UTC

zokier wrote: post #37

snazz wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's worth linking the 12.4.9 page because it's impressive that the software update is available going all the way back to the iPhone 5s. That's some serious longevity.

> That's some serious longevity Well, yes, its better than your average Android vendor. But on the other hand Windows 8 was released 2012 (i.e. about a year before iPhone 5s), and is scheduled to get updates until 2023 . That is pretty serious longevity. And supporting handful of Apple devices must be comparatively simpler than supporting the hodgepodge fleet of Windows 8 devices.

Apples (ha!) to Oranges. Personal computers cost, on average 2-4 times what the 5S cost in its day, and are expected to last much longer than a phone (as evidenced by the lack of uproar that all phone vendors including Microsoft drop support within 2-3 years ... except Apple).

Re: About the security content of iOS 12.4.9

#65

Post by Y-bar » Thu, Nov 05, 2020, 9:31 PM UTC

jeron wrote: post #55

Y-bar wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was to extend the battery life, which was a workaround for the flawed battery design (contra CPU power draw). I bought an iPhone SE in the first month available and it started throttling by month 10, I'm not a battery designer, but I did not buy a device marketed as 2x the speed of 5S only for it to silently drop to 0.8x the speed of the 5S less than a year later.

In which they had a whole year of really cheap, highly subsidized battery replacements to correct their error. I think Apple should be forgiven for this

I was unable to benefit from the battery replacement due to a chip in the screen they discovered after I got a CS code to do it: https://i.imgur.com/Gr1bPTU.jpg

Re: About the security content of iOS 12.4.9

#66

Post by duxup » Thu, Nov 05, 2020, 9:32 PM UTC

Veserv wrote: post #60

duxup wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that still the case? The article implies that before it was written that wasn't the case previously.

Does it matter? A full-chain zero-click remote complete compromise for either system is only $2-3 million. That is absolute chump change. 4-6% of households in the US [1], 5-8 million households, have sufficient assets to fully compromise every iPhone or Android in the world. If we consider businesses, I bet that is within the reach of no less than 50% of the businesses (including small businesses) in the US. That is…

>Does it matter?

Yes?

Considering it was the measuring stick that person seemed to feel was important.

Re: About the security content of iOS 12.4.9

#67

Post by beagle3 » Thu, Nov 05, 2020, 9:33 PM UTC

MrStonedOne wrote: post #20

Anybody get a bitter sweet feeling when ever these reported and fixed security exploits announcements happen? It's good that users aren't going to risk getting hacked by such vulnerabilities, but its bad that users can no longer uses these exploits to gain administrative control over their property.

If you want a phone that you have control over, don't buy one from Apple... At this point in time, choices are mostly limited to Librem and PinePhone.

Re: About the security content of iOS 12.4.9

#68

Post by nahkoots » Thu, Nov 05, 2020, 9:34 PM UTC

MrStonedOne wrote: post #52

snazz wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple isn't going to force you to update your device, so you can stay on an older version if you want jailbreaks.

users buying new devices that automatically update on activation aren't going to have that choice.

Users that care about having control over their devices shouldn't be buying Apple hardware in the first place. Not that I support Apple's anti-consumer practices, but if you buy one of their products, you have to know what you're getting yourself into.

Re: About the security content of iOS 12.4.9

#69

Post by irae » Thu, Nov 05, 2020, 9:36 PM UTC

Dahoon wrote: post #63

curt15 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only Google could put this much effort into supporting its own Pixel devices, which stop getting updates to the base OS after just three years.

>after just three years The 5S was sold from Apple stores in India in mid 2017. So that's 3 years of updates from end-of-sale and this is an OS update for a 2 year old OS. So two years of support. Less than the Pixel.

When someone buy a 5S in 2017 they surely know already, or should, that it is a cheap buy to last less than a newer model. So 3 years in this case is actually a great deal.

Re: About the security content of iOS 12.4.9

#70

Post by gruez » Thu, Nov 05, 2020, 9:42 PM UTC

Y-bar wrote: post #39

alewi481 wrote: post #10

I'd like to give kudos to Apple for including the iPhone 5S in this security update, which was released on September 20, 2013, over 7 years ago! Supporting a product for even 3 years is rare in the smartphone world.

Wouldn't last official sale date be a better indicator of true device support? For example if someone bought it in an Apple store on the last day available, how long period would they have received updates for? For example in mid 2017 it was still officially sold by Apple in India (source: https://www.iphonehacks.com/2017/05/apple-iphone-5s-iphone-s... ).

>Wouldn't last official sale date be a better indicator of true device support?

well in that case many cheap android phones/tablets would have negative support periods, considering they don't release any updates at all.