For the longest time, Apple has been the standard bearer when it comes to keeping phones up to date. In recent years, it has provided its iPhones with six iOS version updates, besting much of the Android space easily. That’s not to say its biggest competitors have been slacking off: Google, OnePlus, and Samsung have all committed their flagship devices to four or more years of OS updates and five or more of security patches. But at itsGalaxy S24event today, Samsung pledged to do even better.
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Seven years
The Korean tech giant is now promising seven years of OS and security updates for its Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra phones, going further than its last policy established in 2022 by giving nearly all of its flagship and mid-range devices four years of OS updates and five years of security patches. That means if you plan on staying with your Galaxy S24 device until 2031, you may expect to see it launch with Android 14 and end up with Android 21. We expect that other new Android product launches in 2024 will also be covered by the seven-year plan.
The wider scene
This places Samsung in lockstep with Google, which announced seven years of software coverage for itsPixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phonesin October. It also matches Apple’s own record, updating the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and first-generation iPhone SE through seven versions of iOS. Apple, however, has discontinued support for the iPhone 7 and 8 series after their sixth major iOS updates.
Moreover, other Android manufacturers have still been doing the bare minimum for flagship devices, to say that they do even less for their mid-range and budget devices. Asus isn’t clear on how many OS updates it will give itsZenfone 10owners, butdid tell one customerit will serve up security patches for four years. Motorola doesn’t seem interested in giving any of its phones more than a couple of OS updates and two years of security updates (viaAndroid Police). The frequency of those security patches can also appalling as well with many brands delivering them only every other month or even quarterly in some cases – despite a few behind-the-scenes changes over the years that have helped security updates move along to end users faster. To see Samsung support a broad portfolio of phones with security updates on a monthly basis is truly something to be appreciated.
