Apple cutting off payment source changes for older versions of iOS, macOS & Apple TV

Posted:
in iOS
Beginning June 30, people using some older versions of iOS, macOS, and the pre-tvOS Apple TV operating system will be unable to change their payment sources for iTunes and the App Store without updating to newer software.

Apple iPad 2


In an email going out to customers, Apple is alerting people that the cutoff prevents payment switches in iOS 4.3.5, OS X 10.8.5, and Apple TV Software 4.4.4 or earlier. Customers will still be able to access iTunes and the App Store, including making new purchases and downloading previous ones, but will have to use whatever payment method they selected before the end of June assuming that they have no other devices to change the information.

The change is related to unspecified backend security improvements.

In practice, few people are likely to be affected. iOS 4.3.5 was released in 2011, and the last device to ship without iOS 5 was the iPad 2, which was still supported in several subsequent iOS upgrades. OS X 10.8.5 came out in September 2013, and was replaced by OS X Mavericks less than a month later.

Apple TV Software 4.4.4 was only ever able to run on second- and third-generation Apple TVs, but Apple TV Software 5 was released as far back as March 2012, and both set-tops eventually made it to 7.2.2. As recently as December -- after the launch of the tvOS-based Apple TV 4K -- Apple was still pushing new apps to the third-gen Apple TV, namely Amazon Prime Video.

The company has made concerted efforts in recent years to keep older devices in the loop. This fall's iOS 12, for example, will be able to run on all the same devices as iOS 11, reaching as far back as 2013's iPhone 5s.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    linkmanlinkman Posts: 1,035member
    So Windows 7, which was first released in 2009 and lost mainstream support in 2015, still gets extended support from Microsoft and Apple iTunes. Hmmm...
    Alex1N
  • Reply 2 of 9
    nunzynunzy Posts: 662member
    Apple is doing this for reasons of security. Apple builds in security from the ground up
    chia
  • Reply 3 of 9
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    linkman said:
    So Windows 7, which was first released in 2009 and lost mainstream support in 2015, still gets extended support from Microsoft and Apple iTunes. Hmmm…
    If Apple is still willing to support iTunes on Win7 I would assume that it's because there's still a substantial number of iTunes users on that platform. I have no numbers but I'd assume that Win7 with iTunes installed would outnumber all versions of macOS in use today.
    muthuk_vanalingammike1bshankAlex1N
  • Reply 4 of 9
    berndogberndog Posts: 90member
    Soli said:
    linkman said:
    So Windows 7, which was first released in 2009 and lost mainstream support in 2015, still gets extended support from Microsoft and Apple iTunes. Hmmm…
    If Apple is still willing to support iTunes on Win7 I would assume that it's because there's still a substantial number of iTunes users on that platform. I have no numbers but I'd assume that Win7 with iTunes installed would outnumber all versions of macOS in use today.
    And most Win7 users do not have the security expectations that most Apple device users demand
    watto_cobrabshankAlex1N
  • Reply 5 of 9
    linkman said:
    So Windows 7, which was first released in 2009 and lost mainstream support in 2015, still gets extended support from Microsoft and Apple iTunes. Hmmm...
    Windows 7 is supported by Microsoft until 2020... so what are you hinting at... hmmmm...
  • Reply 6 of 9
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    berndog said:
    Soli said:
    linkman said:
    So Windows 7, which was first released in 2009 and lost mainstream support in 2015, still gets extended support from Microsoft and Apple iTunes. Hmmm…
    If Apple is still willing to support iTunes on Win7 I would assume that it's because there's still a substantial number of iTunes users on that platform. I have no numbers but I'd assume that Win7 with iTunes installed would outnumber all versions of macOS in use today.
    And most Win7 users do not have the security expectations that most Apple device users demand
    In my experience and from my vantage point very few users are really concerned about security, but do you think that's the reason Apple is supporting Win7 over there simply being a lot of Win7 users out there?
  • Reply 7 of 9
    Soli said:
    berndog said:
    Soli said:
    linkman said:
    So Windows 7, which was first released in 2009 and lost mainstream support in 2015, still gets extended support from Microsoft and Apple iTunes. Hmmm…
    If Apple is still willing to support iTunes on Win7 I would assume that it's because there's still a substantial number of iTunes users on that platform. I have no numbers but I'd assume that Win7 with iTunes installed would outnumber all versions of macOS in use today.
    And most Win7 users do not have the security expectations that most Apple device users demand
    In my experience and from my vantage point very few users are really concerned about security, but do you think that's the reason Apple is supporting Win7 over there simply being a lot of Win7 users out there?
    I would imagine Apple still supports iTunes on Windows 7 because its an officially supported operating system by Microsoft that's still updated monthly, sometimes weekly, and there are still a large number of Windows users who have iOS devices, iTunes Music Library's, or Apple Music subscriptions.  XP and Vista are out of support by both Microsoft and Apple.
    SolichasmAlex1N
  • Reply 8 of 9
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,304member
    There's no reason to believe that Apple is notifying us of this change for *any* reason other than the stated one -- backend security. It doesn't matter a tinker's cuss if Windows users are oblivious to security; they benefit from Apple's attention to it anyway.

    I'm not disputing that the existing Windows 7 user base isn't still very large (because aforementioned ignorance about security among other reasons), but that doesn't seem to hold water as more of a reason for this support than the simple explanation offered -- otherwise, it would only extend to Windows users, and Apple would be free (and probably delighted) to cut off Mac users who are running far out-of-date OS versions, as those users cost far more (in support terms) than then Apple makes off of them at this point.

    But Apple didn't do that. Instead it is doing its best within the confines of heightened security requirements to accommodate the few that have to have older systems running for as long as is feasible to do so.
    kuduAlex1N
  • Reply 9 of 9
    vlad1kvlad1k Posts: 11member
    “Unspecified backed security improvements” is disabling of some encryption protocols to meet new PCI Data Security Standard.
    These old systems don’t support newer and more secure encryption protocols and are simply will not be able to connect to Apple servers. And most likely, their Safari versions have no such support as well, and users will lose access to online banking/e-commerce websites on that date.

    https://blog.pcisecuritystandards.org/are-you-ready-for-30-june-2018-sayin-goodbye-to-ssl-early-tls
    chasm
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