The 4S is missing a lot of features, the 4 even more and the 3GS cannot run iOS 7. I wouldn't call that support for older models. Can't throw the WP7 incompatibility with WP8 into the mix because WP7 and iPhone 4 were both released the summer of 2010. They both work but neither can be at today's OS versions.
I won't even get on Android for the same reasons. Gingerbread owners are in the same boat. Even an original Nexus can't upgrade to Jelly Bean. Custom ROMs don't count.
Sent from my iPhone using WPCentral Forums
The 4S and 4 for their time and even today are really good devices albeit have very small screens.
Apple provides updates for around 3 or more years, something I appreciate. Plus exisiting Windows Phone 7 devices weren't updated because of single core processors whereas the single core iPhone 4 did get the iOS 7 update and the iPhone 4S is getting iOS 8.
I'm not a fan of iPhone but I give credit where credit is due.
As far as Android goes yes there is somewhat of an update problem but a lot of updates in further iterations of Android are available on the Play Store and as far Nexus devices go they get support for 18 months and sometimes longer.
The reason Galaxy Nexus didn't get updated was because the company that had made its processor had exited the market making it harder for Google to obtain the required libraries and stuff to get to the next version.
Windows Phone has a pretty bad record with updates and I hope they improve this time, the first device to reach EOL is the HTC 8S(just today).
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk