With the launch of the Pixel 8, Google shook up the industry with its decision to offer seven years of full OS upgrades – beating out rivals Samsung and even Apple. That support covers everything, including full Android updates, regular Pixel feature drops, and security updates. But how did Google decide on that seven years? We got a response this week from the company’s vice president of devices and services, Seang Chau, who talked about the promise on the latest episode of the Made by Google podcast.
As it turns out, that seven-year promise wasn’t an arbitrary decision; it was calculated after studying the lifespan of Google’s first Pixel smartphone based on active user data, Chau explained:
“So when we look at the trajectory of where the original Pixel that we launched in 2016 landed and how many people were still using the first Pixel, we saw that there was actually a pretty good base of active users up to probably seven years. . So if we think about it, okay, we want to be able to support the Pixel for as long as people are using the device, so seven years is about the right number.”
To put that into perspective, the Samsung Galaxy S23 is promised to get four years of software updates and five years of security updates. And while Apple doesn’t promise a predetermined number of years for security and software updates, we can look at support for iOS 17 devices to get an estimate. The oldest phone on the list is the iPhone XR, which came out in 2018, so iPhone users can expect about five years of support.
Better processors and QA testing help expand support
By switching to using custom Tensor processors, Google was gradually able to offer better software support. It’s a process that started with the Pixel 6, which jumped to five years of software and security updates (compared to three years with the Pixel 4 and Pixel 5).
“After we have a few more years of Tensor under our belt … we’re really able to figure out how best to execute those updates,” Chau said, adding that the company “became easier to say we can go to those seven years and be able to deliver to our customers that extended time.”
The transition to year-round beta programs with quarterly releases of the platform also played a significant role in the decision to make this type of commitment.
“Now that we have these beta programs year-round, we have a lot more confidence that we’re going to have a reliable update for users on a quarterly basis because we have a lot of beta testers,” Chau said. This ensures that “the features we move from annual releases to these quarterly releases will work and work well for our users.”
Chau said that as users near the end of that seven-year promise, Google plans to prioritize only software features that don’t need additional RAM, storage, a coprocessor or “some other hardware capability” to hopefully keep Pixel phones running smoothly for longer. That’s comforting to hear now knowing that Gemini Nano AI was almost exclusive to the Pixel 8 Pro because that’s how much RAM is on the standard Pixel 8. Ideally, new features added later won’t require new hardware to run. Unfortunately, it’s still unclear whether any models other than the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will also benefit from the extension of the older five-year and three-year update obligations.