Google Pixel 8 May Outshine Apple's iPhone With 7 Years Of Android Updates

Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google could provide seven years of software updates to the upcoming Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones.

What Happened: Google was expected to offer longer software update support for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, and now a new leak suggests that this period could be seven years, reported 91Mobiles.

The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are scheduled to launch on Oct. 4.

See Also: New Pixel 8 Leak Leaves Nothing To Imagination: From Features To Price, Here’s What You Should Know

The leaked document clearly mentions that the Pixel 8 series will get seven years of operating system, security, and Feature Drop updates. This is considerably higher than the Pixel 7 series, which is guaranteed to receive five years of software updates.

At the moment, Google's software policy for the Pixel 7 series says it will offer three years of software updates, followed by two years of security patches.

If the Pixel 8 software support rumor turns out to be accurate, it would be the longest-supported Android phone so far.

Even Samsung, known for being amongst the best in the Android world regarding software updates, promises only four years of support.

But that's not it – if this turns out to be true, Google's support for the Pixel 8 series would be better than even Apple Inc. AAPL, which supports iPhones with software updates for five years.

Why It Matters: The Android world has struggled to support its phones with software updates for as long as it has existed. One reason is that the Android operating system witnessed massive changes and feature additions during its initial phase, resulting in companies running into hardware limitations on existing devices.

But more than that, the sheer number of phones each company launches, and Android phones being relatively less profitable than iPhones, means longer-term software support is less feasible for Android makers.

However, that could change with Google's Pixel 8 series. It remains to be seen if Samsung, Xiaomi, and others follow in the footsteps of the Android maker.

Photo by Triyansh Gill on Unsplash

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