Those devices are forced to use an ancient Safari version of WebKit which includes tons of vulnerabilities that are not patched anymore, and same time doesn't support modern ECMAScript functionalities.
With a modern browser engine, those old devices can be used for valid browser usage.
Absolutely spectacular, indeed…
> and long overdue for outdated devices!
I would pause here and reflect. There is zero chance this performs better (speed, latency, memory, battery life, etc) than Safari on iPhones since the latter has been heavily optimized over the decades for this exact use case. Older devices not even getting iOS updates are likely the devices that will work worst with this software in its current form.
Of course if Apple had allowed third party browser engines from the start, it would likely be a much more even playing field!