Windows 7 for example had a support lifetime of about 10 years. Any red hat release has a support lifetime of 10 years plus another 3 or 4 years of extended support for releases since 2010.
I agree that 7 years is not little, but it is not much either.
Apple too has a good track record of releasing security updates for versions of OSX that will run on 10 year old hardware, regardless of whether you can update that hardware to the latest OS.
Many PC OEMs completely abandon security updates for drivers and firmware when their systems go out of warranty, if not immediately after they're discontinued. I had this issue with my last Thinkpad which was less than 2 years old.
You’re comparing software and hardware. I can comfortably say that most stock 7 year old laptops would not do well running Windows 10.
But more to the point, it is a true rarity to find manufacturers that provide support that far out for their devices. If we’re bemoaning planned obsolescence, Apple is not the poster boy for it (in my opinion)
Luckily I didn't say planned obsolescence, I said manufactured - because that's precisely what it is, Apple is well known for this type of behavior. Introduce candy, don't allow old hardware to run it, pretend like it's a hardware issue. Problem is, they do this for features that demonstrably don't require better hardware, such as the animations in the weather app for the iPhone.
It's very obvious what it's about, make "old" hardware feel outdated and force the customer's hand.
I mean, again, 7 years is a long enough timeline that I can’t really feel any negative opinions here. And “force” is much less relevant if we’re discussing what you call “candy.” Apple still pushes security updates for old macOS versions, so obsolescence isn’t even the right word to use, right?
Inducements to buy new hardware is a company’s life blood, and the methodology you’ve outlined seems like the tamest way to do so.
If you went back in time to the sixties and said you spent several months disposable income on an electronic device that you only expect to work for a couple of years with zero ability to repair, they would think you were mad.
The current scheme is designed to extract our disposable income as much as possible. You are given a trivially better deal by Apple, but it’s still very much a raw deal.
Can you really choose not to have a smartphone? No. It’s a necessity of modern life just as a car is for many. This tilts the balance in favor of the manufacturer, you’ll buy one anyway.
Manufactured obsolescence.