Skip to main content

iPad Users May Need to Pay for OS Updates

Apple, Inc. is a master at getting its customers to give it plenty of revenue when it comes to operating systems. On desktops it follows a more frequent release schedule than competitor Microsoft, which means that even with cheaper licenses, it still typically ends up making as much or more money.

In the mobile sphere, Apple has become one of the first vendors to charge customers money for major updates to some of its mobile devices. While the iPhone still enjoys free updates, major OS updates for the iPod Touch must be purchased via Apple’s iTunes. The iPod Touch is built on similar hardware and can browse the internet via Wi-Fi, .

Recommended Videos

Now it looks like the iPad will become Apple’s latest OS cash cow.

The news that iPad users will have to purchase some OS updates aired with the release of the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK, a software development kit compatible with Apple’s new tablet-cum-ebook reader. The documentation file, which can be found here [IPD file], contained this juicy tidbit:

Apple will provide you any iPad OS software updates that it may release from time to time, up to and including the next major iPad OS software release following the version of iPad OS software that originally shipped from Apple on your iPad, for free. For example, if your iPad originally shipped with iPad 3.x software, Apple would provide you with any iPad OS software updates it might release up to and including the iPad 4.x software release. Such updates and releases may not necessarily include all of the new software features that Apple releases for newer iPad models.

In other words, with the iPad, Apple is following a rather unique approach. It will be giving users one freebie — a single major OS upgrade. After that users will be on their own and will be forced to pay to upgrade the OS. Upgrades will likely be priced similar to those on the iPod Touch, at about $10.

Apple claims that the upgrade fees are just a necessity due to accounting difficulties with giving away free upgrades to its loyal customers. Nonetheless, if the iPad proves a commercial success as some are predicting, those upgrades could eventually sum to a nice revenue stream for Apple.

Ian Bell
I work with the best people in the world and get paid to play with gadgets. What's not to like?
iPhone 17 Pro may get a wild, must-have accessory that beats a case
Render of iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The Apple iPhone 17 Pro may get an unusual customization option, if an image showing a wild new accessory type is accurate. Instead of just wrapping your phone in a case or a skin, the iPhone 17 Pro’s distinctive camera module may support colorful panels to spice up the look of the phone, and make good use of all that blank space we expect to see around the cameras.

Anyone who has seen early renders of the iPhone 17 Pro’s possible design will have been struck by the large camera module on the back, which appears flat and houses three main cameras on the left, with a flash unit and another sensor on the right. The space between them is entirely unused, and that’s where the rumored panels come into play.

Read more
The iPhone should copy this Android phone’s shortcut button feature, here’s why
The buttons on the iPhone 16e

The iPhone is renowned for its ability to start entire trends and drive the smartphone industry in new directions. 

Beginning with the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, which transitioned the industry from resistive to capacitive touchscreens and eliminated the need for a stylus, the iPhone also defined the current smartphone with the introduction of the App Store and the app economy.

Read more
My main computer is an M4 iPad Pro, but a 2021 iPad still surprises me
Rear shell of 2021 iPad Pro.

This might sound controversially ridiculous, but for the past few years, my primary computer has been an iPad Pro. I first got interested in pushing tablets this way when the M1 version came out, and I’ve kept using them all the way up to the newest M4-powered model. 

A few weeks ago, I went back to my M1 iPad Pro to see how well it handles next-gen apps that are pushing the boundaries of graphics and AI on a mobile device. So, the big question is whether the four-year-old slate can still serve as a reliable workhorse in 2025?

Read more