Thinking about the new OS releases and product releases from Apple, If this sounds a bit worse than planned obsolescence, I could agree with you; but, it is well within keeping with the history of most of our high-tech device providers. They are in business to make money and one way their success is measured is in the number of new products sold. How better to drive sales than to actively make older products less functional? This is not the first example we have seen of this and it won’t be the last. As consumers, we have some control over the success and failure of these kinds of acts on the part of providers. Please consider carefully, your actual needs and “wants / wishes” before reinforcing this kind of behavior on the part of these tech providers.
Here in my northern office I continue to work from a seven year-old computer (new SSD hard drive 2-years ago) without missing a thing that is offered in the new hardware. Upstairs, I run my entertainment system with $100 Raspberry Pi 400. When I need a computer for some application, I take care to analyze what I actually need and then I build a wish-list of other features and abilities that would make that product or me more efficient in the appointed tasks. From that (and some experience, not all good) I decide on a product to fill the demands for that application.
I titled this post as Predatory Obsolescence because, more and more, I see consumers choosing products because they are new or flashy, or shiny instead of because they fit their needs and wishes best. The manufacturers are using this behavior to their advantage and have helped us build a culture of “throw away and replace” instead of adapting perfectly capable products to our needs. Yes, they are being predatory; but, we are acting as their willing prey.