Apple's Commitment to iPhone Security Updates
TapTechNews June 6th news, in the past, Apple has always been vague about the length of support for iPhone's security updates and software updates. However, due to a special law and regulation in the UK, Apple has now made a clear commitment.
According to a publicly available regulatory filing, Apple promises to provide at least five years (from the release date) of support for its latest iPhone 15 series phones. This commitment is mainly for security updates, that is to say, Apple will at least provide iPhone 15 with 5 years of security updates, starting from the time of the phone's release in September 2023.
Mishaal Rahman of AndroidAuthority website pointed out that compared with some major competitors, Apple's promised support time is shorter. For example, both Samsung and Google guarantee to provide 7 years of updates for their flagship devices, including not only security updates but also updates of the Android operating system, which is two years longer than Apple's promised five years.
But Apple is actually a bit conservative. Rahman said, However, it is commendable that Apple has long been providing more than five years of security updates for its various iPhone devices. Some iPhones can still receive security updates even after six years or more since their release, which far exceeds the support that the vast majority of Android devices can get. Therefore, although Samsung and Google temporarily lead Apple in the guaranteed years of software support, it doesn't mean that iPhone users can't use their phones for as long as Android users.
TapTechNews noticed that Apple has always provided update support far beyond its five-year commitment for iPhones in the past. For example, iOS 15 released a security update in March this year, and iOS 15 runs on the iPhone 6s, which is nearly 9 years old.
It seems a bit strange that Apple doesn't promise to provide the same 7-year update duration as Samsung and Google, but iPhone users don't have to worry about their devices losing security update support after five years. Apple's previous update records prove that the actual support duration will be longer.