4 ms·

I hate to say it, but get an iPhone SE. 5 years of updates /from when the device was last sold in stores/. If you sideload any Android apps, you'll have to wait

I hate to say it, but get an iPhone SE. 5 years of updates /from when the device was last sold in stores/. If you sideload any Android apps, you'll have to wait in a cold until the latest pixels are patched, and then get one of the a-models.

cidergal 4y ago
That wasn't what they asked though.
- parker_mountain 4y ago
  Maybe, but they were looking for a phone that'll last a long time, and I hope my answer makes them reconsider. The Android OS-updates situation is seriously dire, and it seems very difficult for Google to fix.
  - ydnaclementine 4y ago
    They hated Jesus because he told them the truth
  - serf 4y ago
    >and I hope my answer makes them reconsider. but.. their old phone is still operating fine, it isn't even affected by the Samsung modem exploit, and best-of-all the pixel 2 is well supported by many third-party Android roms. Parent literally has one of the best supported older phones available for third party OS installation (which, incidentally, is what parent was asking about..) so, in the interest of e-waste/recycling/keeping old things going I hope they reconsider the value of their already-owned hardware and how it may still continue to serve them.
    - parker_mountain 4y ago
      fwiw, third-party android roms are only part of the story. And, in an article about the baseband being compromised, I would hope people would take that into consideration. >so, in the interest of e-waste/recycling/keeping old things going I hope they reconsider the value of their already-owned hardware and how it may still continue to serve them. In the interest of security, both theirs and the people they communicate with, I hope they consider upgrading their device to something that has a very long lifespan of active security updates.
    - jeffparsons 4y ago
      Thanks. I'll probably be trying LineageOS. Wish me luck.
  - jeffparsons 4y ago
    Thanks. I don't mind that you didn't address my question directly, because this is all relevant food for thought. Every year I'm more disappointed by Google on pretty much every front. They really do seem to have jumped the shark. If I do decide to upgrade... Unfortunately I can't stand iOS. No kidding, I'd rather have a Nokia 5110. I've tried repeatedly, thinking "I'm just not used to it", but there's too much about the design philosophy that I find actively obnoxious. Strangely, I don't have this problem with macOS. Maybe I can find another Android vendor with a better support policy, or if none of them are any good then just suck it up and buy the very newest of whatever to at least push the planned death of my device back a couple more years. I'm getting a bit sick of this treadmill. I don't buy the defence some people offer that it's too much work to support the older devices. Having a security-only backports release series for old devices would be _trivial_ compared to the enormous piles of money Google sets on fire for shits and giggles on a daily basis. It's planned obsolescence, plain and simple.
    - sofixa 4y ago
      > Unfortunately I can't stand iOS. No kidding, I'd rather have a Nokia 5110. I've tried repeatedly, thinking "I'm just not used to it", but there's too much about the design philosophy that I find actively obnoxious. Strangely, I don't have this problem with macOS. That's how i feel with iOS and macOS, the whole design philosophy and UX feel alien to me, and makes me hate every actual issue I encounter even more. > I'm getting a bit sick of this treadmill. I don't buy the defence some people offer that it's too much work to support the older devices. Having a security-only backports release series for old devices would be _trivial_ compared to the enormous piles of money Google sets on fire for shits and giggles on a daily basis. It's planned obsolescence, plain and simple. From what I've understood, it's mostly the hardware components' vendors' fault - Qualcomm and co that provide the SoC and modem. It's their firmware which isn't kept up to date by the manufacturer (because it isn't easy to do so), thus phone lifecycle is inherently limites. There have been massive recent advances in that area though, with on one hand more vendors (MediaTek, Samsung) that could maybe be forced to compete and thus have to differentiate from one another, but also big changes to Android and the way updates are done, to keep firmware/driver/kernel updates as simple as possible to develop and roll out. We can see the effects with multiple Android vendors (e.g. Google, Samsung) now supporting phones for much longer. So hopefully soon things will improve.
_emacsomancer_ 4y ago
Pixel 6 and 7 are also guaranteed security updates for at least 5 years: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705 https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705
- wyldfire 4y ago
  And yet Google used Exynos for those designs. Somehow Samsung must have told project zero that they didn't need to release a fix - a project run by their customer for this SoC. But promptly after disclosure a fix appears. I guess it's good that they'll come out for five years, but it's probably worth a little bit of doubt on our part whether Samsung will actually deliver on that promise.
  - philistine 4y ago
    Oh my god is that why Apple has yet to put modems in their laptops? I could totally see Apple unable to compromise on support for a Qualcomm modem for something like 8 years.
    - wyldfire 4y ago
      Apple's designed Qualcomm out of next-generation iPhones (again) [1], only this time they've acquired the Intel/Infineon modem design team instead of buying the parts. So if Apple were to make a Macbook with a modem next year, it'd be their own. [1] https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/iphone-se-4-reportedly-back-in-development-with-apple-built-5g-modem/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/iphone-se-4-reportedly-back...
    - parker_mountain 4y ago
      Honestly, I think it's because they believe anyone with a macbook should have an iphone - their easy and transparent tethering works embarrassingly well.
- jeffparsons 4y ago
  > Pixel 6 and later phones will get updates for at least 5 years from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US. That's not really the same thing as "updates for at least 5 years". The date the device first went on sale in the US isn't particularly relevant. They'll still sell it to you long after that, and then end support not long after it's out of warranty. That's what happened to mine. The lessons I'm learning here (if I'm running a first party OS) are: - Check very carefully how long different vendors actually support their devices. Google is pretty rubbish on this front, it turns out. - Always buy the latest model when buying a new phone, even if it doesn't have anything I need, or I'll just have to "upgrade" twice as frequently instead.

cidergal 4y ago

That wasn't what they asked though.

parker_mountain 4y ago
Maybe, but they were looking for a phone that'll last a long time, and I hope my answer makes them reconsider. The Android OS-updates situation is seriously dire, and it seems very difficult for Google to fix.
- ydnaclementine 4y ago
  They hated Jesus because he told them the truth
- serf 4y ago
  >and I hope my answer makes them reconsider. but.. their old phone is still operating fine, it isn't even affected by the Samsung modem exploit, and best-of-all the pixel 2 is well supported by many third-party Android roms. Parent literally has one of the best supported older phones available for third party OS installation (which, incidentally, is what parent was asking about..) so, in the interest of e-waste/recycling/keeping old things going I hope they reconsider the value of their already-owned hardware and how it may still continue to serve them.
  - parker_mountain 4y ago
    fwiw, third-party android roms are only part of the story. And, in an article about the baseband being compromised, I would hope people would take that into consideration. >so, in the interest of e-waste/recycling/keeping old things going I hope they reconsider the value of their already-owned hardware and how it may still continue to serve them. In the interest of security, both theirs and the people they communicate with, I hope they consider upgrading their device to something that has a very long lifespan of active security updates.
  - jeffparsons 4y ago
    Thanks. I'll probably be trying LineageOS. Wish me luck.
- jeffparsons 4y ago
  Thanks. I don't mind that you didn't address my question directly, because this is all relevant food for thought. Every year I'm more disappointed by Google on pretty much every front. They really do seem to have jumped the shark. If I do decide to upgrade... Unfortunately I can't stand iOS. No kidding, I'd rather have a Nokia 5110. I've tried repeatedly, thinking "I'm just not used to it", but there's too much about the design philosophy that I find actively obnoxious. Strangely, I don't have this problem with macOS. Maybe I can find another Android vendor with a better support policy, or if none of them are any good then just suck it up and buy the very newest of whatever to at least push the planned death of my device back a couple more years. I'm getting a bit sick of this treadmill. I don't buy the defence some people offer that it's too much work to support the older devices. Having a security-only backports release series for old devices would be _trivial_ compared to the enormous piles of money Google sets on fire for shits and giggles on a daily basis. It's planned obsolescence, plain and simple.
  - sofixa 4y ago
    > Unfortunately I can't stand iOS. No kidding, I'd rather have a Nokia 5110. I've tried repeatedly, thinking "I'm just not used to it", but there's too much about the design philosophy that I find actively obnoxious. Strangely, I don't have this problem with macOS. That's how i feel with iOS and macOS, the whole design philosophy and UX feel alien to me, and makes me hate every actual issue I encounter even more. > I'm getting a bit sick of this treadmill. I don't buy the defence some people offer that it's too much work to support the older devices. Having a security-only backports release series for old devices would be _trivial_ compared to the enormous piles of money Google sets on fire for shits and giggles on a daily basis. It's planned obsolescence, plain and simple. From what I've understood, it's mostly the hardware components' vendors' fault - Qualcomm and co that provide the SoC and modem. It's their firmware which isn't kept up to date by the manufacturer (because it isn't easy to do so), thus phone lifecycle is inherently limites. There have been massive recent advances in that area though, with on one hand more vendors (MediaTek, Samsung) that could maybe be forced to compete and thus have to differentiate from one another, but also big changes to Android and the way updates are done, to keep firmware/driver/kernel updates as simple as possible to develop and roll out. We can see the effects with multiple Android vendors (e.g. Google, Samsung) now supporting phones for much longer. So hopefully soon things will improve.

_emacsomancer_ 4y ago

Pixel 6 and 7 are also guaranteed security updates for at least 5 years: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705 https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705

wyldfire 4y ago
And yet Google used Exynos for those designs. Somehow Samsung must have told project zero that they didn't need to release a fix - a project run by their customer for this SoC. But promptly after disclosure a fix appears. I guess it's good that they'll come out for five years, but it's probably worth a little bit of doubt on our part whether Samsung will actually deliver on that promise.
- philistine 4y ago
  Oh my god is that why Apple has yet to put modems in their laptops? I could totally see Apple unable to compromise on support for a Qualcomm modem for something like 8 years.
  - wyldfire 4y ago
    Apple's designed Qualcomm out of next-generation iPhones (again) [1], only this time they've acquired the Intel/Infineon modem design team instead of buying the parts. So if Apple were to make a Macbook with a modem next year, it'd be their own. [1] https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/iphone-se-4-reportedly-back-in-development-with-apple-built-5g-modem/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/iphone-se-4-reportedly-back...
  - parker_mountain 4y ago
    Honestly, I think it's because they believe anyone with a macbook should have an iphone - their easy and transparent tethering works embarrassingly well.
jeffparsons 4y ago
> Pixel 6 and later phones will get updates for at least 5 years from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US. That's not really the same thing as "updates for at least 5 years". The date the device first went on sale in the US isn't particularly relevant. They'll still sell it to you long after that, and then end support not long after it's out of warranty. That's what happened to mine. The lessons I'm learning here (if I'm running a first party OS) are: - Check very carefully how long different vendors actually support their devices. Google is pretty rubbish on this front, it turns out. - Always buy the latest model when buying a new phone, even if it doesn't have anything I need, or I'll just have to "upgrade" twice as frequently instead.