Yeah, the whole thing sounded crazy from the get-go. Google, the company behind the Android operating system, was promising owners of its Pixel phones three major Android updates while Samsung was giving the owners of some Galaxy handsets four major Android updates. And then, in a class by itself, is Apple. As pointed out by 9to5Google, the iPhone XR, which was released in 2018 with iOS 12 pre-installed, will receive iOS 17 next month. And the iPhone 6s, released on September 25, 2018, still gets security updates.
9to5Google says that it has heard that starting with the upcoming Pixel 8 series, Google will increase the number of Android OS updates that the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and possibly subsequent Pixel releases will enjoy. The information that 9to5Google has been privy to suggests that the Pixel 8 line will receive as many major OS updates as the iPhone currently receives. And that would be at least five although some models, like the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and the OG iPhone SE, received seven years of iOS updates.
The Pixel 8 series is expected to offer five years of Android updates
The aforementioned 2018 iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max will be the oldest phones to receive iOS 17. This year the 2017 iPhone models lost iOS support. Those phones are the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X.
It is easy to see why Google wants to go after the iPhone’s longevity and isn’t satisfied to offer four years of Android OS updates like Samsung. Like Apple, Google creates the software and the hardware. While Google could have stopped at four OS updates to match Samsung, the company would still be hearing from its critics that if Apple can give iPhone owners at least five years of major OS updates, why can’t Google promise the same to Pixel owners?
If 9to5Google’s source is correct, this will be a major improvement to the Pixel line starting with the next flagship series. And when Google releases the Pixel 10 in 2025, possibly with its own chipset “fully customized by Google,” we could see further update improvements for the Pixel series.
