After being forced into bringing some “unbelievable” changes to iPhone and the App Store in the EU, Apple has been pushed to reveal yet another “trade secret”, this time in the UK. For years, Apple iPhones have stood out as the gold standard for software support, though Apple never really put out a “number” in public. It was understood that an iPhone would get more than five years of support besting Android by miles, even without Apple officially committing to it. Now, a new ruling in the UK has made it mandatory for Apple to spill the beans — and it has responded.
On April 29, 2024, the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) regulation came into effect in the UK. Companies like Apple manufacturing, importing, or distributing internet-capable (IoT) devices in the UK are required to submit compliance statements that provide—among other things—the timeline for which their devices would get security updates.
Apple, in its compliance report, has confirmed to the UK that its iPhone 15 Pro Max is eligible for security updates for a minimum of five years from the first supply date, which is listed as September 22, 2023 — the same day the new iPhone 15 series went on sale around the world. What this means is that officially, Google and Samsung are now “besting” Apple by offering longer support—which is seven years at the very least—for the Pixel 8/Pixel 8a and Galaxy S24 phones. Google’s VP of Engineering for Android Security & Privacy, Dave Kleidermacher, has highlighted this point in a detailed post on LinkedIn.
“For years, iPhone was known as having a longer security support lifetime than Android. Yet Apple never actually committed to a minimum support lifetime at purchase. Thanks to the UK government’s PSTI regulation, Apple has finally published a purchase-time commitment – 5 years – two years LESS than Android flagships from Google (Pixel) and Samsung,” Kleidermacher wrote.
“Apple deserves a lot of credit for providing 5+ years of security updates for a long time. But now it’s time to acknowledge iOS is no longer offering the best security lifetimes in the smartphone industry. Android is,” he added.
Again, it doesn’t mean that Apple will not support your iPhone for more than five years now. Currently, a 5-6 year support timeline for major updates appears to be standard for iPhones. For instance, iOS 17 support extends all the way back to the iPhone XS which was launched in 2018. Moreover, Apple continues to provide security updates for much longer periods. iPhones as old as the iPhone 6s from 2015 are still getting security updates. The UK compliance report does add a bit of context to the whole thing and shows how far Android has come in all these many years to a point where it is actually beating Apple which was once the undisputed “king of the hill” at least in software.
The compliance report comes at an interesting time. On June 10, Apple will announce iOS 18, the next major iteration of iOS, which is being widely reported as the most ambitious iOS update in its history. Not only is it expected to bring a bunch of new features—especially at the personalisation level—it will also add generative AI conveniences—including a purported integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT—even as Apple plays catch up with Google and Microsoft.
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