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Comment by jonknee | Hacker News Reader

Moving to a longer cycle also has the benefit of being friendly to people who purchase the iPhone with a service contract. It's tough to be in a two-year deal for a one-year device.

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So the iPhone self-destructs now after twelve months? Devilish what Apple is coming up with these days.

Normal people don't buy a new iPhone every year. And even nerds should know that the market is moving at such a speed that it will be nearly impossible for them to own the latest and greatest at any point in time. All iPhones were at least 24 month devices.

I think the point was more of a focus on software. Where we are today I think the iPhone 4 stands up in hardware, but is lagging in software (notification UI, reliance on iTunes, etc). An extra four months for some more RAM and maybe faster data access isn't going to bother most people.

AT&T has been fairly generous with upgrade amnesty, allowing iPhone upgrades while under contract (which resets your two-year timer, of course).

IIRC, they allowed anyone to upgrade to a 3GS and cut off ~6 months for an iPhone 4, in addition to special iPhone 4 pricing for those under longer remaining contracts.

But yes, I imagine Apple has lost some leverage here now that AT&T is no longer exclusive.

I wouldn't be surprised if AT&T still did it to band-aid hemorrhaging to Verizon.

It's even worse if you're in a 3-year contract (common in Canada). With that said, it's not to difficult to delay gratification and hold upgrades off for a few years.

do any of the canadian carriers not allow upgrades at the two year mark (with a three year contract extension, of course)? i know rogers and telus both do (did).

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