Google unveiled the Pixel 8 this week and the biggest new feature isn’t the Tensor G3 chip, the 48MP ultra-wide camera, or the LTPO display. It’s the promise, direct from Google, that the Pixel 8 will still get updates in 2030. Google is guaranteeing seven years of Android OS upgrades, security updates, and regular Feature Drops, a massive improvement over the Pixel 7 (three years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates) and the Galaxy S23 (four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates).
Google is also boasting that it’s better than what Apple offers with the iPhone. Apple technically doesn’t guarantee a specific length of time for upgrades, but you can generally count on five years of iOS updates and six years of security updates. iOS 17 supports iPhones back to the XR, XS, and XS Max, which were released in 2018. At first glance, that might seem like less than Google is promising, but let’s dig in.
Google promises seven years of updates “from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US,” so if you buy one next August, you’re getting six years of updates. Google specifically says updates are guaranteed until October 2030, so even if that means Android 21 comes out in October 2030, you’re not guaranteed to get any updates beyond the initial release.
The iPhone XR and XS, meanwhile, originally shipped with iOS 12, so that’s five full OS updates so far (iOS 13-iOS 17), six years of updates (through next September until iOS 18 arrives), and seven years of security updates, as Apple continues to support the previous iOS generation for at least a year. So in reality here’s how the two platforms look side by side with the current generations of phones:
| OS updates | Security updates | |
|---|---|---|
| Google Pixel 8 | October 2030 | October 2030 |
| Apple iPhone 15 | September 2029 | September 2030 |
And that’s if Apple doesn’t extend the life of the current iPhones. As recently as iOS 15, Apple had supported iPhones going back six years, which means the iPhone 15 could get iOS 23 in 2029, updates throughout 2030, and security updates through 2031 which would be better than Google guarantees.
Besides, there’s a reason why Apple doesn’t guarantee a certain number of upgrades. Each generation of iPhone is unique and by the time iOS 21 rolls around, the iPhone 13 might not be fit to run it. If it is, Apple will add it to the compatibility list. If it isn’t, Apple won’t support it. And Google doesn’t know how the Pixel 8 will fare with Android 21 either.
As Tommy Boy said, “A guy puts a guarantee on the box ’cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside. … Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of sh—” well, you get the point. Maybe the Pixel 8 will end up getting a couple of months of extra software updates than the iPhone 15 once 2030 rolls around. But you know what, I’d still rather trust the company that doesn’t need to promise anything.
