Why Apple will not port Siri to older iOS products

Brian November 10, 2011 4

Siri

So your an iPhone 4 owner and you want Siri but don’t want to upgrade (even though it is worth it), well unfortunately Apple will not be porting Siri to your iOS device. Why not? Well a couple reasons.

First a report from Michael Steeber stating that an Apple rep clearly stating that they have no plans to support older devices. A user was inquiring if there was a special build of iOS 5.0.1 in which older iOS devices could purchase Siri for a small fee, Apple responded with:

Engineering has provided the following feedback regarding this issue:
Siri only works on iPhone 4S and we currently have no plans to support older devices.

If that wasn’t enough, iFixit has reexamined a piece of hardware that is specific to the iPhone 4S: an infared LED that activates Siri. They’ve concluded this is exclusively used by Siri to recognize when your face is near the iPhone.

Siri is ready and waiting to answer her master’s beck and call at any time. And in order to be as attentive as a personal assistant ought to be, Apple had to design the proximity sensor to be as vigilant as Big Brother, but as cute as Little Sister. So whenever the screen is active, the proximity sensor is active too. Thus, whenever you raise the iPhone 4S to your face, Siri is ready to take orders.

This new sensor doesn’t seem to be on any of the older iOS devices so unfortunately it looks as if upgrading is your only choice (or waiting for a hack).

Of course Apple can change their mind at any time but we’re sure they’d like to keep this to the iPhone 4S as it is a big selling point.

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POSTED IN » Apple, Headline, iOS, News
  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=703848523 Harvey Lubin

    “we currently have no plans to support older devices.”

    We have heard this type of statement from Apple many times previously, and many times Apple turns around and does exactly what they said they “currently” had no plans for.

    In other words, this statement does NOT mean that Apple will not have Siri running on other devices in the future.

    “a piece of hardware that is specific to the iPhone 4S: an infared LED that activates Siri.”

    That “piece of hardware” is the Proximity sensor, and it is NOT “specific to the iPhone 4S”! The Proximity sensor has been on EVERY iPhone since the first one in 2007!

    The Proximity sensor is used by Siri only when the iPhone is brought close to your ear. When that happens, Siri turns on automatically without having to press the Siri button. It is iOS 5, not the Proximity sensor hardware, that keeps the Proximity sensor on whenever the iPhone is on (on previous iPhones the OS only uses the Proximity sensor when making a call).

    We also know that people have demonstrated Siri working flawlessly on a jail-broken iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS. Saying that it is impossible to work on older phones is just plain wrong.

    • Anonymous

      Harvey, the proximity sensor in the 4S is different from all previous devices. Jailbroken devices running Siri do not auto-activate as the 4S does. That might be reason enough for Apple to insist on not enabling it for those devices; the inconsistency breaks the experience.

      I’m sure Siri will eventually be on all devices, but that doesn’t mean it will ever become available for devices older than the 4S. It might, or they might just wait a few years until the iPhone 4 drops off the supported list.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=703848523 Harvey Lubin

    Apple is VERY likely to bring Siri to ALL Apple devices.

    Why? Because Siri is a third-stage evolution in computer user interface, being introduced by Apple.

    In 1984, Apple’s first stage evolution in computer UI was going from the command-line to a GUI with menus and mouse/trackball. This UI was brought to all Apple’s products that followed… all Macs and all of the first iPods (which used menus and a wheel instead of a trackball). The command-line was deposed.

    In 2007, Apple’s second stage evolution in computer UI was multi-touch. Today, Macs, iPhones, iPads, and iPods use multitouch.

    In 2011, Apple’s second stage evolution in computer UI was introduced… voice interaction using Siri. Will this be the first time that Apple introduces an advancement in computer user interface, and restricts it to only one product (the iPhone 4S)?

    Not very likely.

    What is likely, is that within a short period of time we will have Siri on Apple’s other computing devices, just as happened with the GUI and multi-touch previously.

  • Craigcan

    Not a mention of Siri for iPad2, which is a current device.