With the recent announcements of the iPad and iPhone OS 4 it looks like Apple is set to announce what many people have been speculating for a while. While recently answering some emails it appears that Steve Jobs has confirmed that the first generation iPhone will not be getting an upgrade to the iPhone OS 4. It makes a little bit of sense considering that Apple’s subscriptions accounting model for the original iPhone only accounted for free upgrades for 24 months.
Even though Apple does have this 24 month upgrade policy in place it is just a matter of paperwork and could be easily corrected. At the least Apple could allow for an iPod touch style paid upgrade since the first generation iPhone essentially uses the same hardware as the newer devices. As much as I would like to see Apple offer this upgrade to the iPhone OS 4 it does not look like it is going to happen.
This is a real shame that Apple is not willing to allow their original customers to upgrade to the new operating system when it appears that it easily could allow it. Essentially Apple is dead ending a $400 phone 3 years after it was released and forcing loyal customers to go out and purchase an updated iPhone if they wish to use all of the features that are associated with iPhone OS 4.
Of course this is all unofficial at this point but with each passing day it looks like this will be the case. Hopefully you are not one of the unlucky few who have the first generation iPhone and are looking to use the iPhone OS 4.
