Phone software updates decide when a handset stops being safe to use, and for years the answer was short, inconsistent, and buried where nobody looked. That has shifted. Two of the largest manufacturers now promise seven years, the EU has written a minimum into law, and the UK forces companies to publish a support date for every connected device they sell. Buyers have more information than they have ever had. They also have a gap between what the headline numbers say and what turns up on cheaper phones.
Hardware is rarely what ends a phone’s life. A five year old handset still makes calls, runs most apps, and holds a charge well enough once the battery is replaced. What matters is the date phone software updates stop arriving, because every flaw found in the operating system after that point stays open on that device.
What the EU now requires for phone software updates
The rules changed on 20 June 2025. From that date, smartphones, feature phones, cordless phones, and slate tablets placed on the EU market fall under the ecodesign regulation, which sets a floor for how long manufacturers must keep devices updated. The European Commission’s summary of the requirements for smartphones and tablets lists five years of operating system upgrades as the minimum.
The detail that trips people up is when the five years begin. The clock does not start at launch. It runs from the date the last unit of that model is placed on the EU market, so a phone still being sold three years after release carries support well past its launch date. Buying early in a model’s life gives a practical window longer than five years, while buying the last one in the shop gives closer to five from that point.
The same regulation covers more than software. Manufacturers have to supply critical spare parts for seven years after a model stops being sold, batteries must survive at least 800 charge cycles while keeping 80 percent of their capacity, and every phone carries an energy label with a repairability class from A to E. That label is the first time a repairability score has been required on a product sold in the EU.
How long phone software updates last from Google, Samsung, and Apple
Google publishes the clearest numbers. Its Pixel update support page states that the Pixel 8 and later receive seven years of operating system and security updates, along with feature drops, counted from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US. Older models sit on a shorter schedule, with the Pixel 6 series, the Pixel 7 series, and the original Pixel Fold getting five years. That has a concrete consequence this year, since security updates for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro run out in October 2026.
Samsung matched the seven year figure in January 2024, and its mobile security page frames the commitment as an extension of up to seven years. The qualifier matters, because the full seven applies to Galaxy S, Z, and Tab S models from 2024 onward. Selected A series phones from late 2024 get six years. Older devices sit on four or five, depending on the model.
Apple is the exception, since it has never published a general policy. What exists instead is a regulatory filing. The UK’s Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure regime, in force since 29 April 2024, requires manufacturers of connectable products to declare a minimum period for security updates. Apple’s compliance statement for the iPhone 15 Pro Max gives a defined support period of a minimum of five years from a first supply date of 22 September 2023, as reported by MacRumors. Five years is a floor rather than a forecast, and Apple has often gone well beyond it in practice, patching the iPhone 5S seven years after release. The stated commitment still sits behind the seven years that Google and Samsung advertise.
Where the promises and the reality diverge
Setting a legal minimum for phone software updates has not made every manufacturer meet it. Reporting by heise online in early 2026, roughly six months after the rules took effect, found companies still shipping phones with update commitments shorter than the regulation appears to demand.
Motorola told the publication that its Moto G57 Power, G17 Power, and G17 would get no new Android versions at all, with two or three years of security updates depending on the model. Motorola’s position is that the regulation does not create a guaranteed obligation to publish updates for a set number of years, only that any updates provided must be free of charge. Since no manufacturer has ever charged for security patches, that reading would leave the provision doing very little.
Others land somewhere in between without reaching seven years. Oppo promises five years of new Android versions and six years of security patches on its recent flagships. OnePlus offers four major upgrades and five years of patches. Xiaomi appears to count the requirement against security patches rather than Android versions.
None of this means the regulation achieved nothing. Support periods across the industry have lengthened sharply since it was drafted, and the seven year promises from Google and Samsung now apply worldwide rather than only in Europe. What it does mean is that the floor is still contested at the budget end of the market, which is where update policies were always weakest.
How to check phone software updates before buying
The headline number on a brand’s marketing page rarely describes the phone in front of you. A few checks give the real picture of how long phone software updates will last on a specific handset:
- Look up the specific model rather than the brand, since support policies differ between a flagship and the budget handset sold beside it.
- Separate operating system upgrades from security patches. A phone advertised with five years of support may get two Android versions and five years of patches, which are different things.
- Find out when the clock starts. Launch date, first availability, and end of sales all appear in different policies, and they can be years apart.
- Treat budget models as the exception, because two and three year commitments still show up at the entry level.
- For anything secondhand, count the years already used against the support window, since the remaining update period is the real measure of how much life is left. Anyone weighing a used handset should read that alongside the other checks that separate a good refurbished phone from a bad one.
- In the EU, check the energy label, which carries the repairability class and the declared support information.
What happens when phone software updates stop
The phone does not break. It keeps working exactly as it did the day before, which is what makes the risk easy to ignore. The change is that newly discovered vulnerabilities in the operating system are no longer fixed on that device, and the exposure grows month by month rather than all at once.
Apps go next. Developers eventually stop supporting older operating system versions, and banking apps tend to move first, since they often refuse to run on unpatched or modified systems. A phone can become impractical for daily use well before it becomes unusable.
There are reasonable second acts for a device in that position. An unsupported handset works as a music player, a dashcam, a travel spare, or a camera for a child, particularly if it stays off public networks and holds no banking or email accounts. Some models can run community maintained versions of Android that continue to receive patches, though installing one takes technical confidence and usually voids the warranty. Trading it in or recycling it through a certified scheme is the other option, and most manufacturers and carriers run programs that pay something for a working device.
Frequently asked questions
How long do phone software updates last now?
It depends on the model and the maker. Google and Samsung offer seven years on recent flagships, Apple has committed to a minimum of five years for the iPhone 15 and later, and the EU sets a five year floor for devices placed on its market since June 2025. Budget phones frequently receive less, sometimes two or three years, so the specific model matters more than the brand name.
What is the difference between OS updates and security updates?
An operating system update brings a new version of Android or iOS, with new features and interface changes. A security update patches flaws in the version already installed. Security patches are the ones that determine whether a phone is safe to use, and manufacturers often provide them for longer than they provide new OS versions.
Is it safe to keep using a phone after updates stop?
It becomes less safe over time rather than unsafe overnight. Once patches stop, any vulnerability discovered afterwards stays open on that device, and the accumulated risk grows. Using an unsupported phone for calls, photos, or media is a reasonable compromise. Keeping banking, email, and password apps on it is not.
Do refurbished phones still get software updates?
Yes, provided the model is still inside its support window, since phone software updates follow the device rather than the owner. This is the most useful thing to check before buying used, because a phone two years into a seven year policy has five years left, while one nearing the end of a five year policy has very little.
