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Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago. Nor is it reserved for their flagship models - the 2016 iPhone SE

Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago. Nor is it reserved for their flagship models - the 2016 iPhone SE also gets the latest and greatest. Meanwhile, my flagship android phone from 2018, the Samsung Galaxy S9, is stuck on the last version of Android. At least it still gets security updates, some manufacturers don't even go that far.

omegalulw 5y ago
It's one of my biggest gripes with Android. At best, I have gotten 2 years of updates (updates which come 8-12 months after the official Android release). I could, of course, install a custom ROM. But that usually means (in my experience) that not all hardware features work, battery life is worse, I have to install updates myself and I am usually not as confident about device security. Despite these, I used to install and love custom ROMs a lot in college. when I had the time but not anymore. On my iPad (while it lasted, RIP), I would get updates on the same day as official iOS release. Night and day difference.
- bmcahren 5y ago
  What led you to not buy the official android phone? Are you aware of it? Considering all the major non-Google Android phone manufacturers are also the same that manufacture Black Friday TVs that fail on schedule, don't you sense this was a problem not with Android but with your choice of manufacturer?
  - Jtsummers 5y ago
    I assume you're referring to the Pixel/Nexus devices. I've had two, I don't think either got updates after 3 years or so. A far cry from the 6 years that Apple is now offering with the 6S, and the 5 years most of their devices got before that.
    - bmcahren 5y ago
      I remember my Nexus program devices getting support longer than this. Hopefully we see a change in this trend over the next few years now that phones are generally more powerful and don't age as quickly except by battery degradation.
- brewdad 5y ago
  I don't think I've even gotten two years of Android updates on any phone. I don't tend to buy my phones right at the release date and it seems most Android phones offer 2 years of updates from the first day the phone was available, not 2 years from purchase/activation. I now have an iPhone 12.
  - serverholic 5y ago
    For me the hardware didn't even last 2 years. I had 3 Android phones in a row where the GPS started acting 2 years in.
arenaninja 5y ago
This is why I started buying iPhones. The resale value of a device after 2 years of usage is over 50% of the original cost if it's in good condition OEM quality is all over the place for Android, crapware is standard. It's been 4 years of iPhone for me and the only complaint I have is how bad Apple Maps can be
- brundolf 5y ago
  Apple Maps has been great for me, though I've heard the data quality varies widely based on where you live For me it's just a cleaner, simpler, less ad-infested version of Google Maps
  - arenaninja 5y ago
    I'm in the US but outside California. I find Apple Maps has better estimates for directions, but Google Maps is much more likely to have small businesses in its data set. I've also had experiences where it makes me drive across the street from my destination/1 block or two away I want to like it because, as you pointed out, it's a cleaner interface
    - brundolf 5y ago
      Yeah. I'm in Austin, which probably means my local data gets more attention than most They do have a mechanism for filing corrections from within the app, which I've used a couple times and it seems to actually result in fixes, which is great Hopefully they give more priority to a wider set of areas in the future
      - arenaninja 5y ago
        I've submitted corrections a couple of times, I found the process cumbersome. Maybe it has improved since I used it
  - rootusrootus 5y ago
    Definitely helps to be in a major metro area. Even then, while I think Portland has pretty good detail, it was noticeably improved when I drove through the Bay Area last weekend. When that level of detail is available everywhere (in the US, at least), Google may have something to worry about.
rewddit 5y ago
This is the key reason I'm moving to iPhone. The mobile hardware / software that utilizes it are no longer moving quickly enough to justify buying a new phone every few years for my use case. Getting meaningful updates for the duration of how long I want to use the hardware for is a huge differentiator to me.
mdasen 5y ago
It's so aggravating on the Android side. While a Motorola One 5G Ace might not be a flagship, it came out in 2021 and I'm stuck on Android 10. I don't know if Motorola (who says I should expect Android 11) is the issue or if it's my carrier. Android 11 came out 4 months before the Motorola One 5G Ace came out. A year later, no Android 11. I guess it's probably even more frustrating if you're paying Apple-like prices for a Galaxy S series device and not getting updates. At least I can think, "well, I got what I paid for."
- GeekyBear 5y ago
  The original iPhone SE was $399 back in 2016 and is starting its sixth year of OS and security update support. You can get both an affordable device and many years of support after the sale.
  - tim333 5y ago
    I bought my one used but like new for a bit over $130 or so. It's a very cheap way to have really quite a nice phone.
stingraycharles 5y ago
At the same time, I do have to admit that things got very, very slow on the original SE. Maybe it’s the battery life throttling thing, but just felt at the end of its life, even though the software kept updating.
- msk-lywenn 5y ago
  It is perhaps indeed the battery because I’m using an SE 2016 with a battery that I changed a few months back and it works wonderfully with iOS 14.
- vanilla_nut 5y ago
  Probably a deteriorated battery — I’m still using my SE 2016 and it’s still going very strong. But I have replaced the battery twice, once every 2-3 years.
- Retric 5y ago
  It’s very much worth replacing a battery on year 3 if you’re planning on keeping an iPhone to end of life. Harder to justify on year 5+, but still a real quality of life improvement.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
signal11 5y ago
> Meanwhile, my flagship android phone from 2018, the Samsung Galaxy S9, is stuck on the last version of Android. That's inexcusable, and this attitude carried over to security updates is a big reason some corporates left Samsung and went to Apple -- e.g. the A5, a midrange phone comparable with the iPhone SE, lost access to updates when the device was perfectly usable. Samsung must've felt the feedback, because this year they announced a formal policy on security updates -- too late for the S9, but customers from S10 onwards ought to benefit[1]. They've been a lot better with Android updates on newer phones too -- Project Treble probably played a role. > Galaxy devices will now receive regular security updates for a minimum of four years after the initial phone release. By extending support for security updates delivered on a monthly, quarterly or biannual basis [1] https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-takes-galaxy-security-to-the-next-level-by-extending-updates https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-takes-galaxy-securit...
- foepys 5y ago
  Quarterly and biannual are still a joke. It's not like Google is keeping all patches and releases them at once without notifying vendors. Nokia was a little known a few years ago for releasing security patches before Google did for their Pixel models. Sadly, this has changed.
  - danudey 5y ago
    Now the million dollar question: did they change because they stopped caring, or did they change because Google made them?
- TrueGeek 5y ago
  Leaving updates up to carriers makes it super hard to test mobile apps. You get a bug where it only happens on Samsung Whatever on Android 11, but the phone you bought for QA hasn't yet gotten that update. So you test on an emulators which, of course, don't reproduce the bug.
  - danudey 5y ago
    We had an issue at my previous company where our mobile game was crashing for like, one user. He had this whatever model of Samsung phone, but we had hundreds of people using that phone and no one else had issues. Turns out that, despite the model numbers and identifiers being identical, this one phone in this one country in SE Asia had a slightly different GPU setup and there was a bug in the drivers it shipped with that was crashing our game. So even though we worked with this user for like two weeks to try and figure out why it was just him, it turns out that it was because the Android manufacturer/carrier partnership situation is a gigantic mess for no discernible reason; the manufacturer didn't distinguish between two phones that had technically different specs, and the carrier didn't give a shit enough to ship the updated driver that would fix the issue.
flyingchipmann 5y ago
Exactly. I am done with android. I will get a linux phone instead if there is a decent model and just get an ipad for mobile app needs.
themodelplumber 5y ago
Why do iOS upgrades past one major version always slow down my devices so much though. It's been such a disappointing waste of system resources. Personally this is why I tried out Android and have so far stuck with it, (splitting my devices up between two OSes but whatever). So far my Androids get 2 years of bi-monthly security updates and at least 2 major Android releases by manufacturer policy, which is all I've needed, and they don't effectively render my device useless (so far, fingers crossed).
- tsywke44 5y ago
  Slowing down is mostly caused by battery wear. All my Android devices have had the same problem.
  - KennyBlanken 5y ago
    Battery wear, filesystem cruft, and solid state storage slowing down as it fills. People complaining about their phones being slow have aged batteries, a nearly full filesystem, and have likely gone through numerous system updates. On iOS it is trivial to move off files you don't need on the device anymore and then do a backup, full wipe, and restore.
    - themodelplumber 5y ago
      A convenient mansplain, as it does not match up with the fact that the devices in question here were not in the state you described, nor did you inquire. I wonder why we are giving OS upgrades such a free pass here anyway, since they are notorious for this.
    - philliphaydon 5y ago
      My 2nd attempt at android was a Samsung Note 5? Or 4? I forget. Anyway when it arrived it was crazy fast!!! Loved it. After 2 months it was annoyingly slow. Reset it. Fast. Downloaded no apps. Got slower and slower. After 1 year I switched to iPhone for the first time (6) never had an issue ever since. (I did have an iPhone 4 at one stage which made me go MS Phone cos the crashing was so bad)
SkyMarshal 5y ago
How do Google's pure Android phones compare in this regard? Are they supported for longer? Eg, is this premature ending of support a Samsung thing, or is it endemic to the whole Android ecosystem, including Google?
- Taywee 5y ago
  Usually get 3 years. Pixel 3 launched in October 2018, and its updates end in about a month. I feel like that's still way too short, and causes many millions of still-usable phones to be trashed or recycled every year. Aftermarket OSes aren't an option for a lot of people, because some apps will refuse to run on an unofficial OS.
  - InvaderFizz 5y ago
    A lot of aftermarket Pixels are useless because they have a locked boot loader as well. So even if you wanted to run an unofficial rom, you can't. This has tanked the resale value of these phones, which I'm sure the carriers are fine with.
    - bserge 5y ago
      That's the biggest travesty. Forget the stupid updates, let me install anything I want on my pocket computer.
- windowsrookie 5y ago
  Google provides 3 years of updates. The Pixel 2XL, released in 2017 (two years after the iPhone 6s) received it's last update December 2020. https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en
- GeekyBear 5y ago
  They have slowly been forced to offer longer support, but are still currently at half as many years as Apple. >One aspect in which Android has always fallen behind iOS is updates, with iPhones receiving as many as six years worth of updates, while some Android phones are lucky to get two years. In this area, Google’s Pixel series have held the crown, offering their phones three full years of updates, including monthly patches and three major Android versions. The original Google Pixel was gradually updated from Android 7.1 Nougat to Android 10 — an extension from the original promise to only offer two major updates. https://9to5google.com/2021/02/22/comment-four-years-android-updates-samsung-google-pixel/ https://9to5google.com/2021/02/22/comment-four-years-android...
sneak 5y ago
Meanwhile, after having every single major iPhone version since the original jesusphone, I'm switching from iOS to Android because I'd rather run out-of-date hardware and slightly more out-of-date software just to not have my phone spy on my local media contents for a remote master. Apple's days as a head-and-shoulders above clear winner are over.
- jonfw 5y ago
  You think switching from Apple to Google is a plus for your privacy?
  - serverholic 5y ago
    I've seen this before. Somehow people convince themselves that moving from Apple to Google somehow gives them more privacy. It's really an incredible phenomenon.
  - privacyisntdead 5y ago
    Android != Google
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - sneak 5y ago
    No, I have no intention of using Google or Apple anything.
- user-the-name 5y ago
  Google already does the exact same scanning of images that Apple has now delayed, so, uh, not exactly gaining much there are you?
  - privacyisntdead 5y ago
    It’s not the same scanning. Apple’s scanning is on device while Google and others scan for CSAM in their respective clouds.
danudey 5y ago
Maybe worth noting that, internally, the first-gen iPhone SE is an iPhone 6s; same CPU, GPU, and RAM. It's missing some hardware features, like 2nd gen TouchID, 3D Touch, hardware image stabilization, and some other minor things, but from a performance/capability perspective it's the same phone.
- mikepurvis 5y ago
  The screen is identical, though, which is awesome— I was rocking an iPhone 5S and was able to buy for dirt cheap someone's cracked-screen SE and swap the screen over. I fully intend for my next device to be an iPhone 8 so that I can eventually pull the same thing with an upgrade to the SE 2.
  - mrunseen 5y ago
    For reference, there’s a video which tests compatibility of 8 and SE 2’s parts. https://youtu.be/FTAQqih1DZs https://youtu.be/FTAQqih1DZs
  - dont__panic 5y ago
    Interesting. If I'm remembering correctly, the SE actually used a worse display than the 5S -- Anandtech's review found that the display calibration matched that of the 5. So I guess I should look for a cheap 5S screen if I want an easy screen upgrade...
ccouzens 5y ago
The majority of the changes in iOS 15 are updates to system apps. Your Samsung galaxy s9 will be recieving updates to the equivalent apps.
- vvillena 5y ago
  Over the life of my S9, I got one major OS update, a change from a builtin obnoxious "Samsung news" feed to another equally obnoxious feed, and updates to the builtin apps that brought almost no new important features (the only new feature I actually use is the option to use a Spotify song in the alarm app). It just does not compare against six years of full blown OS updates. Oh, and the S9 comes with so much preinstalled, unremovable shit that it's not even funny. It's a shame, because the phone itself is really nice, and the Samsung custom UI and apps can be awesome at times. The problem is that Samsung sells a premium phone at prices similar to Apple's (if you buy brand new at release time), but this doesn't translate into a premium experience. This also happen with other Samsung products such as TVs.
gozzoo 5y ago
> Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago. Nor is it reserved for their flagship models - the 2016 iPhone SE also gets the latest and greatest. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing though. After each major update, older devices become less and less usable. I would appreciate security updates, but I'd gladly skip all these new features that make my phone crawl.
- katbyte 5y ago
  I have a 10 year old iPad mini which still works just fine and still holds a charge.
  - dandotway 5y ago
    My 2012 iPad is stuck on iOS 9 and can't load many websites anymore, such as Reddit, because its Safari version is too old to support the "let" keyword, etc. This is one of two reasons Apple only allows Safari on iPhones. Besides this forced obsolescence, the other reason is that Apple can auction to the highest bidder who is the default search engine on Safari; Googe pays billions to be the default search.
- kgermino 5y ago
  You actually have that option now. I don't the specifics (how you do it) but I believe you can choose from two tracks: the traditional "update to iOS15" and "stay on 14 but get security updates". It's new this year though, so who knows how it will work in practice
- GloriousKoji 5y ago
  Also all the updated assumes a 21:9 aspect ratio that started with the iPhone X. Sometimes I can't use apps on the 2016 SE because part of the menu will render off screen or the interface is terrible because the true area of interest gets squashed down to the side of two postage stamps.
- beagle3 5y ago
  That used to be true, but hasn’t been in a while. My 6s got snappier with iOS 13 and snappier still with 14. Haven’t tried 15 yet.
serverholic 5y ago
This is one of the reasons I switched from Android to iPhone. The phones are just higher quality, last longer and get software updates for longer. I had like 3 Android phones in a row who's GPS would start acting up after 1.5-2 years. My Apple devices are fantastic. Overall, the largest benefit of Apple devices is that they just work. I can buy them and not have to worry about them.
Krasnol 5y ago
Too bad the general public doesn't care about all that. I know people who are actually annoyed but the update notification...
- bserge 5y ago
  That's me, I don't care. I could, and someday will, install a custom ROM, but for now, shit just works.
  - Krasnol 5y ago
    And you are not wrong. You should still do the security update if you're on Android though.
- ksec 5y ago
  I think it used to be a good thing and people actually like the update. But now they got update fatigue, mostly because updating aren't exactly a smooth process and doesn't actually add any value to their usage. They should go back to the old style where major OS update happens every two years. Although I am not sure the current Apple understand this.
johnvega 5y ago
Last time I checked several weeks ago, 2016 SE looks like it wasn't going to get it. This is great.
pgodzin 5y ago
Don't you have access to most of these similar improvements through updates to the respective Android apps (Photos, Messages, Translate, Camera, etc) rather than OS updates?
- rozhok 5y ago
  System apps doesn't receive separate updates. You can get update for Google translate though.
josephcsible 5y ago
Even Apple's mobile device security update lifespan is pathetic compared to desktops and laptops. If you bought a computer with Windows XP when it first came out, you got 13 years of support, and even more if it could upgrade to Windows Vista or 7. And if you're willing to run Linux or BSD, you can easily run supported software on decades-old hardware. This is the standard we should be holding mobile device manufacturers to.
- marviio 5y ago
  We will eventually, but mobile devices are still changing rapidly. We have giant performance, battery, storage, screen improvements every other year. Comparing a iPhone 3 to iPhone 13 is like comparing a 286 with ThreadRipper. And how is the condition of that 15 year old Thinkpad's battery, keyboard and fans?
  - josephcsible 5y ago
    I know the experience would be subpar. But for people who can't afford a new device right now, it shouldn't also be insecure.
DCKing 5y ago
If in October 2013 you bought a just released Google Nexus 5, you would have had official updates until December 2016. At the end of support, you could have then bought the recent Google Pixel (1). And you would have had official updates until December 2019. A little over 6 years out of two devices is as good as it gets on Android, at least it's as good as it got in the mid-late 2010s. If in October 2013 you bought a just released iPhone 5S, you would have had official updates until - apparently - June 2021. Three months ago. Assuming that was really the last security update to iOS 12. An official Apple device has received one and a half year's worth more updates than two official Google devices put together. The difference between Android support and iOS support is insane. It's easy to point out that you'd probably need to get your battery fixed at least once to make a 5S last that long, and in 2021 it won't be any fun to use. The people that want to make things last have had the option though, and that's what's important. And with Moore's Law being dead and buried, it's going to be a lot easier to get things to last, too.
- b9a2cab5 5y ago
  If you bought a Nexus 5X or 6P, your device eventually bricked itself due to overheating literally melting the solder connections between the CPU and mainboard. Software support isn't the only thing Android vendors are skimping out on.
  - 93po 5y ago
    I had 6P issues and it was replaced for free with an upgraded phone, even outside warranty period
    - GeekyBear 5y ago
      >As time went on, many began to experience bootloops and random shutdowns, including myself. If you happened to order the Nexus 6P from the Google Store, you might have gotten lucky and been given a replacement Pixel phone. However, for many of us, we were simply left with a brick of a useless phone with no resolve. https://www.androidcentral.com/nexus-6p-owners-eligible-400-huawei-and-google-class-action-settlement https://www.androidcentral.com/nexus-6p-owners-eligible-400-...
cjohansson 5y ago
Yeah I have 3 iPhone 6 from 6 years ago with new batteries but can't update iOS or install modern apps. No hardware issues at all but will have to throw them into the garbage for the sake of Apple software support policy
bserge 5y ago
My OnePlus is on 9, there's some update available, I don't see the point. It works fine.
MikusR 5y ago
On Android important software, like browser, is updated independently from the os.
uniqueid 5y ago
Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago If that benefited customers, Apple wouldn't prohibit downgrades. Allowing software that runs painfully slowly on old devices primarily benefits Apple.
firecall 5y ago
I fully think this is great, and we have an iPhone 6S in the house that’s still going strong! However, it’s not exactly the latest and greatest! There is a very long list of features not supported on the older phones! So whilst the 6S to X may support iOS 15, it’s little more than a version number and PR realise for those phones! Apple get free PR and credit for keeping old phones alive, when in reality the features are stripped out and not supported on older devices! What do iOS version numbers even mean at this point!

omegalulw 5y ago

It's one of my biggest gripes with Android. At best, I have gotten 2 years of updates (updates which come 8-12 months after the official Android release). I could, of course, install a custom ROM. But that usually means (in my experience) that not all hardware features work, battery life is worse, I have to install updates myself and I am usually not as confident about device security. Despite these, I used to install and love custom ROMs a lot in college. when I had the time but not anymore. On my iPad (while it lasted, RIP), I would get updates on the same day as official iOS release. Night and day difference.

bmcahren 5y ago
What led you to not buy the official android phone? Are you aware of it? Considering all the major non-Google Android phone manufacturers are also the same that manufacture Black Friday TVs that fail on schedule, don't you sense this was a problem not with Android but with your choice of manufacturer?
- Jtsummers 5y ago
  I assume you're referring to the Pixel/Nexus devices. I've had two, I don't think either got updates after 3 years or so. A far cry from the 6 years that Apple is now offering with the 6S, and the 5 years most of their devices got before that.
  - bmcahren 5y ago
    I remember my Nexus program devices getting support longer than this. Hopefully we see a change in this trend over the next few years now that phones are generally more powerful and don't age as quickly except by battery degradation.
brewdad 5y ago
I don't think I've even gotten two years of Android updates on any phone. I don't tend to buy my phones right at the release date and it seems most Android phones offer 2 years of updates from the first day the phone was available, not 2 years from purchase/activation. I now have an iPhone 12.
- serverholic 5y ago
  For me the hardware didn't even last 2 years. I had 3 Android phones in a row where the GPS started acting 2 years in.

arenaninja 5y ago

This is why I started buying iPhones. The resale value of a device after 2 years of usage is over 50% of the original cost if it's in good condition OEM quality is all over the place for Android, crapware is standard. It's been 4 years of iPhone for me and the only complaint I have is how bad Apple Maps can be

brundolf 5y ago
Apple Maps has been great for me, though I've heard the data quality varies widely based on where you live For me it's just a cleaner, simpler, less ad-infested version of Google Maps
- arenaninja 5y ago
  I'm in the US but outside California. I find Apple Maps has better estimates for directions, but Google Maps is much more likely to have small businesses in its data set. I've also had experiences where it makes me drive across the street from my destination/1 block or two away I want to like it because, as you pointed out, it's a cleaner interface
  - brundolf 5y ago
    Yeah. I'm in Austin, which probably means my local data gets more attention than most They do have a mechanism for filing corrections from within the app, which I've used a couple times and it seems to actually result in fixes, which is great Hopefully they give more priority to a wider set of areas in the future
    - arenaninja 5y ago
      I've submitted corrections a couple of times, I found the process cumbersome. Maybe it has improved since I used it
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  Definitely helps to be in a major metro area. Even then, while I think Portland has pretty good detail, it was noticeably improved when I drove through the Bay Area last weekend. When that level of detail is available everywhere (in the US, at least), Google may have something to worry about.

rewddit 5y ago

This is the key reason I'm moving to iPhone. The mobile hardware / software that utilizes it are no longer moving quickly enough to justify buying a new phone every few years for my use case. Getting meaningful updates for the duration of how long I want to use the hardware for is a huge differentiator to me.

mdasen 5y ago

It's so aggravating on the Android side. While a Motorola One 5G Ace might not be a flagship, it came out in 2021 and I'm stuck on Android 10. I don't know if Motorola (who says I should expect Android 11) is the issue or if it's my carrier. Android 11 came out 4 months before the Motorola One 5G Ace came out. A year later, no Android 11. I guess it's probably even more frustrating if you're paying Apple-like prices for a Galaxy S series device and not getting updates. At least I can think, "well, I got what I paid for."

GeekyBear 5y ago
The original iPhone SE was $399 back in 2016 and is starting its sixth year of OS and security update support. You can get both an affordable device and many years of support after the sale.
- tim333 5y ago
  I bought my one used but like new for a bit over $130 or so. It's a very cheap way to have really quite a nice phone.

stingraycharles 5y ago

At the same time, I do have to admit that things got very, very slow on the original SE. Maybe it’s the battery life throttling thing, but just felt at the end of its life, even though the software kept updating.

msk-lywenn 5y ago
It is perhaps indeed the battery because I’m using an SE 2016 with a battery that I changed a few months back and it works wonderfully with iOS 14.
vanilla_nut 5y ago
Probably a deteriorated battery — I’m still using my SE 2016 and it’s still going very strong. But I have replaced the battery twice, once every 2-3 years.
Retric 5y ago
It’s very much worth replacing a battery on year 3 if you’re planning on keeping an iPhone to end of life. Harder to justify on year 5+, but still a real quality of life improvement.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

signal11 5y ago

> Meanwhile, my flagship android phone from 2018, the Samsung Galaxy S9, is stuck on the last version of Android. That's inexcusable, and this attitude carried over to security updates is a big reason some corporates left Samsung and went to Apple -- e.g. the A5, a midrange phone comparable with the iPhone SE, lost access to updates when the device was perfectly usable. Samsung must've felt the feedback, because this year they announced a formal policy on security updates -- too late for the S9, but customers from S10 onwards ought to benefit[1]. They've been a lot better with Android updates on newer phones too -- Project Treble probably played a role. > Galaxy devices will now receive regular security updates for a minimum of four years after the initial phone release. By extending support for security updates delivered on a monthly, quarterly or biannual basis [1] https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-takes-galaxy-security-to-the-next-level-by-extending-updates https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-takes-galaxy-securit...

foepys 5y ago
Quarterly and biannual are still a joke. It's not like Google is keeping all patches and releases them at once without notifying vendors. Nokia was a little known a few years ago for releasing security patches before Google did for their Pixel models. Sadly, this has changed.
- danudey 5y ago
  Now the million dollar question: did they change because they stopped caring, or did they change because Google made them?
TrueGeek 5y ago
Leaving updates up to carriers makes it super hard to test mobile apps. You get a bug where it only happens on Samsung Whatever on Android 11, but the phone you bought for QA hasn't yet gotten that update. So you test on an emulators which, of course, don't reproduce the bug.
- danudey 5y ago
  We had an issue at my previous company where our mobile game was crashing for like, one user. He had this whatever model of Samsung phone, but we had hundreds of people using that phone and no one else had issues. Turns out that, despite the model numbers and identifiers being identical, this one phone in this one country in SE Asia had a slightly different GPU setup and there was a bug in the drivers it shipped with that was crashing our game. So even though we worked with this user for like two weeks to try and figure out why it was just him, it turns out that it was because the Android manufacturer/carrier partnership situation is a gigantic mess for no discernible reason; the manufacturer didn't distinguish between two phones that had technically different specs, and the carrier didn't give a shit enough to ship the updated driver that would fix the issue.

flyingchipmann 5y ago

Exactly. I am done with android. I will get a linux phone instead if there is a decent model and just get an ipad for mobile app needs.

themodelplumber 5y ago

Why do iOS upgrades past one major version always slow down my devices so much though. It's been such a disappointing waste of system resources. Personally this is why I tried out Android and have so far stuck with it, (splitting my devices up between two OSes but whatever). So far my Androids get 2 years of bi-monthly security updates and at least 2 major Android releases by manufacturer policy, which is all I've needed, and they don't effectively render my device useless (so far, fingers crossed).

tsywke44 5y ago
Slowing down is mostly caused by battery wear. All my Android devices have had the same problem.
- KennyBlanken 5y ago
  Battery wear, filesystem cruft, and solid state storage slowing down as it fills. People complaining about their phones being slow have aged batteries, a nearly full filesystem, and have likely gone through numerous system updates. On iOS it is trivial to move off files you don't need on the device anymore and then do a backup, full wipe, and restore.
  - themodelplumber 5y ago
    A convenient mansplain, as it does not match up with the fact that the devices in question here were not in the state you described, nor did you inquire. I wonder why we are giving OS upgrades such a free pass here anyway, since they are notorious for this.
  - philliphaydon 5y ago
    My 2nd attempt at android was a Samsung Note 5? Or 4? I forget. Anyway when it arrived it was crazy fast!!! Loved it. After 2 months it was annoyingly slow. Reset it. Fast. Downloaded no apps. Got slower and slower. After 1 year I switched to iPhone for the first time (6) never had an issue ever since. (I did have an iPhone 4 at one stage which made me go MS Phone cos the crashing was so bad)

SkyMarshal 5y ago

How do Google's pure Android phones compare in this regard? Are they supported for longer? Eg, is this premature ending of support a Samsung thing, or is it endemic to the whole Android ecosystem, including Google?

Taywee 5y ago
Usually get 3 years. Pixel 3 launched in October 2018, and its updates end in about a month. I feel like that's still way too short, and causes many millions of still-usable phones to be trashed or recycled every year. Aftermarket OSes aren't an option for a lot of people, because some apps will refuse to run on an unofficial OS.
- InvaderFizz 5y ago
  A lot of aftermarket Pixels are useless because they have a locked boot loader as well. So even if you wanted to run an unofficial rom, you can't. This has tanked the resale value of these phones, which I'm sure the carriers are fine with.
  - bserge 5y ago
    That's the biggest travesty. Forget the stupid updates, let me install anything I want on my pocket computer.
windowsrookie 5y ago
Google provides 3 years of updates. The Pixel 2XL, released in 2017 (two years after the iPhone 6s) received it's last update December 2020. https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en
GeekyBear 5y ago
They have slowly been forced to offer longer support, but are still currently at half as many years as Apple. >One aspect in which Android has always fallen behind iOS is updates, with iPhones receiving as many as six years worth of updates, while some Android phones are lucky to get two years. In this area, Google’s Pixel series have held the crown, offering their phones three full years of updates, including monthly patches and three major Android versions. The original Google Pixel was gradually updated from Android 7.1 Nougat to Android 10 — an extension from the original promise to only offer two major updates. https://9to5google.com/2021/02/22/comment-four-years-android-updates-samsung-google-pixel/ https://9to5google.com/2021/02/22/comment-four-years-android...

sneak 5y ago

Meanwhile, after having every single major iPhone version since the original jesusphone, I'm switching from iOS to Android because I'd rather run out-of-date hardware and slightly more out-of-date software just to not have my phone spy on my local media contents for a remote master. Apple's days as a head-and-shoulders above clear winner are over.

jonfw 5y ago
You think switching from Apple to Google is a plus for your privacy?
- serverholic 5y ago
  I've seen this before. Somehow people convince themselves that moving from Apple to Google somehow gives them more privacy. It's really an incredible phenomenon.
- privacyisntdead 5y ago
  Android != Google
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- sneak 5y ago
  No, I have no intention of using Google or Apple anything.
user-the-name 5y ago
Google already does the exact same scanning of images that Apple has now delayed, so, uh, not exactly gaining much there are you?
- privacyisntdead 5y ago
  It’s not the same scanning. Apple’s scanning is on device while Google and others scan for CSAM in their respective clouds.

danudey 5y ago

Maybe worth noting that, internally, the first-gen iPhone SE is an iPhone 6s; same CPU, GPU, and RAM. It's missing some hardware features, like 2nd gen TouchID, 3D Touch, hardware image stabilization, and some other minor things, but from a performance/capability perspective it's the same phone.

mikepurvis 5y ago
The screen is identical, though, which is awesome— I was rocking an iPhone 5S and was able to buy for dirt cheap someone's cracked-screen SE and swap the screen over. I fully intend for my next device to be an iPhone 8 so that I can eventually pull the same thing with an upgrade to the SE 2.
- mrunseen 5y ago
  For reference, there’s a video which tests compatibility of 8 and SE 2’s parts. https://youtu.be/FTAQqih1DZs https://youtu.be/FTAQqih1DZs
- dont__panic 5y ago
  Interesting. If I'm remembering correctly, the SE actually used a worse display than the 5S -- Anandtech's review found that the display calibration matched that of the 5. So I guess I should look for a cheap 5S screen if I want an easy screen upgrade...

ccouzens 5y ago

The majority of the changes in iOS 15 are updates to system apps. Your Samsung galaxy s9 will be recieving updates to the equivalent apps.

vvillena 5y ago
Over the life of my S9, I got one major OS update, a change from a builtin obnoxious "Samsung news" feed to another equally obnoxious feed, and updates to the builtin apps that brought almost no new important features (the only new feature I actually use is the option to use a Spotify song in the alarm app). It just does not compare against six years of full blown OS updates. Oh, and the S9 comes with so much preinstalled, unremovable shit that it's not even funny. It's a shame, because the phone itself is really nice, and the Samsung custom UI and apps can be awesome at times. The problem is that Samsung sells a premium phone at prices similar to Apple's (if you buy brand new at release time), but this doesn't translate into a premium experience. This also happen with other Samsung products such as TVs.

gozzoo 5y ago

> Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago. Nor is it reserved for their flagship models - the 2016 iPhone SE also gets the latest and greatest. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing though. After each major update, older devices become less and less usable. I would appreciate security updates, but I'd gladly skip all these new features that make my phone crawl.

katbyte 5y ago
I have a 10 year old iPad mini which still works just fine and still holds a charge.
- dandotway 5y ago
  My 2012 iPad is stuck on iOS 9 and can't load many websites anymore, such as Reddit, because its Safari version is too old to support the "let" keyword, etc. This is one of two reasons Apple only allows Safari on iPhones. Besides this forced obsolescence, the other reason is that Apple can auction to the highest bidder who is the default search engine on Safari; Googe pays billions to be the default search.
kgermino 5y ago
You actually have that option now. I don't the specifics (how you do it) but I believe you can choose from two tracks: the traditional "update to iOS15" and "stay on 14 but get security updates". It's new this year though, so who knows how it will work in practice
GloriousKoji 5y ago
Also all the updated assumes a 21:9 aspect ratio that started with the iPhone X. Sometimes I can't use apps on the 2016 SE because part of the menu will render off screen or the interface is terrible because the true area of interest gets squashed down to the side of two postage stamps.
beagle3 5y ago
That used to be true, but hasn’t been in a while. My 6s got snappier with iOS 13 and snappier still with 14. Haven’t tried 15 yet.

serverholic 5y ago

This is one of the reasons I switched from Android to iPhone. The phones are just higher quality, last longer and get software updates for longer. I had like 3 Android phones in a row who's GPS would start acting up after 1.5-2 years. My Apple devices are fantastic. Overall, the largest benefit of Apple devices is that they just work. I can buy them and not have to worry about them.

Krasnol 5y ago

Too bad the general public doesn't care about all that. I know people who are actually annoyed but the update notification...

bserge 5y ago
That's me, I don't care. I could, and someday will, install a custom ROM, but for now, shit just works.
- Krasnol 5y ago
  And you are not wrong. You should still do the security update if you're on Android though.
ksec 5y ago
I think it used to be a good thing and people actually like the update. But now they got update fatigue, mostly because updating aren't exactly a smooth process and doesn't actually add any value to their usage. They should go back to the old style where major OS update happens every two years. Although I am not sure the current Apple understand this.

johnvega 5y ago

Last time I checked several weeks ago, 2016 SE looks like it wasn't going to get it. This is great.

pgodzin 5y ago

Don't you have access to most of these similar improvements through updates to the respective Android apps (Photos, Messages, Translate, Camera, etc) rather than OS updates?

rozhok 5y ago
System apps doesn't receive separate updates. You can get update for Google translate though.

josephcsible 5y ago

Even Apple's mobile device security update lifespan is pathetic compared to desktops and laptops. If you bought a computer with Windows XP when it first came out, you got 13 years of support, and even more if it could upgrade to Windows Vista or 7. And if you're willing to run Linux or BSD, you can easily run supported software on decades-old hardware. This is the standard we should be holding mobile device manufacturers to.

marviio 5y ago
We will eventually, but mobile devices are still changing rapidly. We have giant performance, battery, storage, screen improvements every other year. Comparing a iPhone 3 to iPhone 13 is like comparing a 286 with ThreadRipper. And how is the condition of that 15 year old Thinkpad's battery, keyboard and fans?
- josephcsible 5y ago
  I know the experience would be subpar. But for people who can't afford a new device right now, it shouldn't also be insecure.

DCKing 5y ago

If in October 2013 you bought a just released Google Nexus 5, you would have had official updates until December 2016. At the end of support, you could have then bought the recent Google Pixel (1). And you would have had official updates until December 2019. A little over 6 years out of two devices is as good as it gets on Android, at least it's as good as it got in the mid-late 2010s. If in October 2013 you bought a just released iPhone 5S, you would have had official updates until - apparently - June 2021. Three months ago. Assuming that was really the last security update to iOS 12. An official Apple device has received one and a half year's worth more updates than two official Google devices put together. The difference between Android support and iOS support is insane. It's easy to point out that you'd probably need to get your battery fixed at least once to make a 5S last that long, and in 2021 it won't be any fun to use. The people that want to make things last have had the option though, and that's what's important. And with Moore's Law being dead and buried, it's going to be a lot easier to get things to last, too.

b9a2cab5 5y ago
If you bought a Nexus 5X or 6P, your device eventually bricked itself due to overheating literally melting the solder connections between the CPU and mainboard. Software support isn't the only thing Android vendors are skimping out on.
- 93po 5y ago
  I had 6P issues and it was replaced for free with an upgraded phone, even outside warranty period
  - GeekyBear 5y ago
    >As time went on, many began to experience bootloops and random shutdowns, including myself. If you happened to order the Nexus 6P from the Google Store, you might have gotten lucky and been given a replacement Pixel phone. However, for many of us, we were simply left with a brick of a useless phone with no resolve. https://www.androidcentral.com/nexus-6p-owners-eligible-400-huawei-and-google-class-action-settlement https://www.androidcentral.com/nexus-6p-owners-eligible-400-...

cjohansson 5y ago

Yeah I have 3 iPhone 6 from 6 years ago with new batteries but can't update iOS or install modern apps. No hardware issues at all but will have to throw them into the garbage for the sake of Apple software support policy

bserge 5y ago

My OnePlus is on 9, there's some update available, I don't see the point. It works fine.

MikusR 5y ago

On Android important software, like browser, is updated independently from the os.

uniqueid 5y ago

Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago If that benefited customers, Apple wouldn't prohibit downgrades. Allowing software that runs painfully slowly on old devices primarily benefits Apple.

firecall 5y ago

I fully think this is great, and we have an iPhone 6S in the house that’s still going strong! However, it’s not exactly the latest and greatest! There is a very long list of features not supported on the older phones! So whilst the 6S to X may support iOS 15, it’s little more than a version number and PR realise for those phones! Apple get free PR and credit for keeping old phones alive, when in reality the features are stripped out and not supported on older devices! What do iOS version numbers even mean at this point!