Apple already doesn’t “force” iOS users to upgrade. In fact, it keeps track of folks out there in the wild still running earlier versions of its most popular operating system. However, the company does try to have plenty of reasons to upgrade. This year, though, if you want to stay on iOS 14, Apple appears to be okay with that.
As revealed today on Apple’s dedicated pages for iOS 15 and iOS 14, the company plans on letting iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 users stay right where they are, software wise. Usually, while Apple doesn’t force users to make a switch, they firmly suggest they should. Especially when it comes to security and privacy updates — and all the new features, of course. However, the company is making a change this year.
With the upcoming launch of iOS 15 later this year, Apple will let users who want to stick it out with iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 remain on that software until they are actually ready to upgrade.
Per the website:
iOS now offers a choice between two software update versions in the Settings app. You can update to the latest version of iOS 15 as soon as it’s released for the latest features and most complete set of security updates. Or continue on ‌iOS 14‌ and still get important security updates until you’re ready to upgrade to the next major version.
Now, it’s worth noting that, usually soon after a software launch, Apple does stop signing previous versions of the platforms so users can’t downgrade. But that appears to be changing this year, too. Apple typically prompts users to make the upgrade to the new software as soon as possible, too.
This year, Apple will continue to release important security updates for iOS 14, apparently long after iOS 15 (and iPadOS 15) have been released for those who want to stay on the current version, or the old version, once the new software actually launches.
This may be a welcomed change for a lot of iOS users out there. It will be interesting to see how this impact adoption rates moving forward.