Apple to Prevent iTunes Payment Info Changes on Very Old Versions of iOS, OS X, and Apple TV Software

Apple has announced that, starting June 30, customers will no longer be able to change their iTunes or App Store payment information from devices running iOS 4.3.5 or earlier, OS X 10.8.5 or earlier, or Apple TV Software 4.4.4 or earlier.

In an email to customers who may be impacted, Apple said it is implementing this change to continue to ensure that their financial information is protected when they make purchases on the iTunes Store or App Store. For emphasis, this appears to be a proactive move, not the result of a security breach.

Given how old the affected software versions are, relatively few customers should be impacted by this move. iOS 4.3.5 and Apple TV Software 4.4.4 were both released in 2011, while macOS 10.8.5 was seeded in September 2013 as the final update to what was then called OS X Mountain Lion.

If you're using one of these versions on your device and need to change your payment method, Apple says to update your device to the latest version of the software. Of course, this may not be possible on older devices that have been phased out, in which case a newer device with newer software must be used.

The full email to customers courtesy of MacRumors reader Rich:

On June 30, 2018, Apple will implement changes to continue to ensure your financial data is protected when you make purchases on the iTunes Store or App Store.

Our records show that you may be accessing the store from an older version of iOS, macOS, or Apple TV software:

- iOS 4.3.5 or earlier
- macOS 10.8.5 or earlier
- Apple TV Software 4.4.4 or earlier

To be able to change your payment information with devices running the software listed above, you'll need to update to a more recent software version.

The email was also shared on Reddit.

Apple provides more details, instructions on how to update to the latest version of iOS, macOS, and Apple TV software, and steps to change your payment method, in a support document related to this change.

Update: As noted by MacRumors forum member Cdbrawn, this change appears to be in line with the PCI-SSC's requirement that all businesses processing payments online must transition to TLS 1.1 encryption or better by June 30, 2018. The affected iOS, OS X, and Apple TV software versions use TLS 1.0.

Tags: App Store, Mac App Store

Top Rated Comments

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Cdbrawn

8 months ago

Stop the conspiracy theory whining. All companies must stop using TLS 1.0 by June 30 to meet PCI-DSS standards.

These will be the TLS 1.0 OS versions.

Apple are doing what all the large card processors are doing.

Rating: 30 Votes

Morris

8 months ago

Why not just support all software forever?

My guess is that they are ramping up the Transport Layer Security (TLS) for communicating with the payment data backend and require stronger encryption. If older versions don't support the required cyphers they won't be able to connect.

The problem is that this sort of stuff is as strong as the weakest link. If you allow weaker encryption for older devices it would reduce security for everyone because attackers can use downgrade attacks by pretending to be an old device. Spending a lot of effort on fixing old software for what is likely a fairly small group of people will not be worth it.

Rating: 15 Votes

chrono1081

8 months ago

Gotta love that ecosystem/forced obsolescence

It's not forced obsolesce. You guys want less bloat in new versions of iTunes, then you gotta stop support of legacy versions of it. This is 100% the norm in software development. You can't have backwards compatibility forever.

Rating: 13 Votes

CaTOAGU

8 months ago

Was going to say the same. There's going to be a lot of older devices from many vendors that are obsoleted by this.

Rating: 8 Votes

Superhappytree

8 months ago

I miss those icons, especially that iTunes one. So preferred the design of everything Apple back then, even the hardware.

Rating: 8 Votes

luvbug

8 months ago

Gotta love that ecosystem/forced obsolescence

And people wonder why the Internet is so fully of misinformation ....

Rating: 8 Votes

now i see it

8 months ago

Gotta love that ecosystem/forced obsolescence

Rating: 5 Votes

lunarworks

8 months ago

Can you not just download a modern web browser that still runs on those operating systems (like Chrome or Firefox) and just update the payment info on the website?

Yes, but why do that when you can just go online and get angry at Tim Cook?

Rating: 5 Votes

Feyl

8 months ago

I miss those icons, especially that iTunes one. So preferred the design of everything Apple back then, even the hardware.

Me too! You can really see the work behind those in comparison with what we have now.

Rating: 3 Votes

JosephAW

8 months ago

Well at least you can still use your web browser on those old devices. Right?

I'm glad Apple doesn't make a car, or they would issue a statement like, for those if you who purchased the Apple Car 1.0 you will no longer be able to change your Apple Car ID account after January 1, 2020, please purchase a new car and recycling your existing one. Have a nice day.
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I have an iphone4S on ios5 still. The end is coming..

You can still upgrade to iOS 8 on your 4S. I did that with mine.

Rating: 3 Votes

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