Is the implication that once a device is EOL that a vendor should never release an update for that device again?
I feel like Apple changed the dynamics of smartphone market from company-issued devices like BlackBerry to BYO with the iPhone essentially on purpose so they don’t get stuck providing decades of enterprise support promises like companies like Microsoft.
Companies purchasing bulk orders of hardware probably wouldn’t tolerate a vendor unwilling to make any sort of concrete support promise for the contract. But a company who employs iPhone users can basically put the responsibility on the user and simply block access to non-compliant devices.
It seems typical for vendors use "EOL" to refer to end of support life, not merely discontinuing sales of the produce. Most notably, that's how Microsoft generally frames EOL for major Windows releases, hence expectation of jumps in PC sales corresponding to EOL of XP, 7, and 10.
No, I’m not implying there’s something wrong with shipping the occasional update to EOL devices.