Apple To Charge For iPad Software Updates?

It looks like Apple [AAPL] intends to treat the iPad the same way it does the iPod Touch with regards to software updates
to the iPad OS. According to recent documentation released by Apple, iPad owners will receive one major update to the OS for free and then each update after that will be charged for.

Apple recently released the Golden Master version of the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK to it developers and also posted an iPad licensing agreement on their server.

The iPad licensing agreement says that iPad owners will get one major upgrade to the OS for free and will then have to pay for future ones, just like iPod touch owners do.

Apple will provide you any iPad OS software updates that it may release from time to time, up to and including the next major iPad OS software release following the version of iPad OS software that originally shipped from Apple on your iPad, for free. For example, if your iPad originally shipped with iPad 3.x software, Apple would provide you with any iPad OS software updates it might release up to and including the iPad 4.x software release. Such updates and releases may not necessarily include all of the new software features that Apple releases for newer iPad models.

It looks like iPad owners will get a free upgrade to the iPhone OS 4.0, and also free upgrades to incremental updates to the software but will have to pay for major upgrades like the iPhone OS 5.0 etc.


via Gadget Lab