ForeFlight - Minimum IOS required

[WDD]

It looks like my perfectly fine I Pad Pro is on the list of models that can’t be updated.

Getting old isn’t easy at times.

 

[Beachy]

That's what is currently on my old iPhone, which I'll be upgrading within the week. New iPad Mini (6) should be arriving in a day or two - and (hopefully) that will have 17 or be upgradable to it.

 

[cowman]

Apples are perishable products.

Realistically they're probably doing this because they test every new version of foreflight with every supported device running every supported version of iOS. That actually adds up to a lot of testing, especially if their test scripts are fairly elaborate.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

That's what is currently on my old iPhone, which I'll be upgrading within the week. New iPad Mini (6) should be arriving in a day or two - and (hopefully) that will have 17 or be upgradable to it.

An iPad Mini 6 can be upgraded to the latest iOS (18.0.1).

Apples are perishable products.

Any tech is... But I like that particular saying. Produce or technology, it works!

Realistically they're probably doing this because they test every new version of foreflight with every supported device running every supported version of iOS. That actually adds up to a lot of testing, especially if their test scripts are fairly elaborate.

There's more to it than that. Apple adds new functions for developers to take advantage of in every version of the OS, and that enables ForeFlight to create certain new features more easily, or code more efficiently, or many other reasons. If they support whatever old OS anyone is running, they can't take advantage of any of the new tools in the OS, which causes difficulties in both development and support.

As a LONG time Apple user (nearly 40 years now!) I have found that in general, the best thing to do is to buy the latest greatest thing as soon as it comes out, equip it with as much storage and memory as you can, and then use it until they no longer even have security releases of the OS for it. On MacOS, they usually continue with security releases two major versions back. For example, MacOS 15 (15.0.1) is the latest, but they're still putting out new security releases for MacOS 13 and 14 as well. On iOS/iPadOS it varies more, but right now 18 is current and they're supporting back to 15. So, iPad Mini 4 users, you're on borrowed time and should probably upgrade to the Mini 7 that just came out.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Apples are perishable products.

Any computerized product is. Including modern cars. Time to replace my ~10 year old iPad.

 

[Anthem]

i believe the ipad mini 5th generation is the earliest ipad that can run ipad 17. So essentially anything older than that will be phased out from being updated based on the ios level. Essentially its requiring the later a17 chip or later and not the a9 based or earlier.

 

[Clip4]

An iPad Mini 6 can be upgraded to the latest iOS (18.0.1).

Any tech is... But I like that particular saying. Produce or technology, it works!

There's more to it than that. Apple adds new functions for developers to take advantage of in every version of the OS, and that enables ForeFlight to create certain new features more easily, or code more efficiently, or many other reasons. If they support whatever old OS anyone is running, they can't take advantage of any of the new tools in the OS, which causes difficulties in both development and support.

As a LONG time Apple user (nearly 40 years now!) I have found that in general, the best thing to do is to buy the latest greatest thing as soon as it comes out, equip it with as much storage and memory as you can, and then use it until they no longer even have security releases of the OS for it. On MacOS, they usually continue with security releases two major versions back. For example, MacOS 15 (15.0.1) is the latest, but they're still putting out new security releases for MacOS 13 and 14 as well. On iOS/iPadOS it varies more, but right now 18 is current and they're supporting back to 15. So, iPad Mini 4 users, you're on borrowed time and should probably upgrade to the Mini 7 that just came out.

Why would a person need to purchase as much storage /memory as they can? I have had IPads since Gen 1 and never needed the more than 256. The IPad 7 will offer 512.

 

[Anthem]

Why would a person need to purchase as much storage /memory as they can? I have had IPads since Gen 1 and never needed the more than 256. The IPad 7 will offer 512.

I agree (that you dont need the max storage/memory). I think this applies if you buy the most basic entry level apple device. Like for the Ipad Pro 11 that I just got, the storage max is 2TB. No way I need that as 512 or 1tb is more than I ever need for flying. Jeppesen plates and FF full maps only take about 40gb anyhow.

 

[dfw11411]

Just as a point of clarification:

"...essential features like monthly chart and data downloads, documents, and account data syncing will continue to work for recent app versions. Your current version of ForeFlight will continue to function as long as it remains installed on your device, but you will not be able to access future updates or new features."

I have an iPhone 8 that's in excellent condition. I'm not convinced I'll need to upgrade soon, but will look at new features and functionalities as ForeFlight releases them. If I see something I want, I'll upgrade then. [I owned a technology company and was, until I retired, known to acquire the latest and greatest tech. Now, I'm a technological curmudgeon! Or maybe I've become a Luddite!)

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Why would a person need to purchase as much storage /memory as they can? I have had IPads since Gen 1 and never needed the more than 256. The IPad 7 will offer 512.

It doesn't necessarily have to be the max. It *does* need to be at least one step, preferably two, higher than you think you need.

It's a simple matter that you need more and more storage over time, regardless of what you're doing. If you buy an iPad Mini with 128GB today because you're only using 64 right now, and you run out in 4 years vs buying 256 or 512 today and being able to use it for 7 years, you'll be spending more money over time.

Even back when upgradeability was more common, I still found that by the time I felt hampered by what I had equipped the machine with, compatible memory was often harder to find and more expensive so it still made sense to just upgrade the whole machine.

Buy the bare minimum today, and you WILL be replacing it earlier.

 

[Anthem]

i dont think I use any piece of electronics longer than 3-4 years. I know I havent kept an ipad as the primary use for personal or flying for longer than 3 or so years. My current ipads are the Ipad Pro 11 (about 4 months old) and a Ipad Mini 6 (backup) which is a few years old as they just announced the 7. Neither of these will last 7 years, much less 5.

I dont think Ive ever kept a macbook pro for longer than 5 years either. Certainly not the iphone as I have the 16 pro max, or the watch, which is an ultra 2. So yeah - keeping it for that long has its own issues - namely storage aside, as everything gets more resource intensive - storage isnt the only thing that suffers.