Apple reveals minimum software support period for the iPhone

Thanks to the UK's Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) regulation, Apple has revealed the duration of its iPhone software support.

Apple recently published the PSTI compliance statement for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which states the support period as a "minimum [of] 5 years from the first supply date". 

The PSTI regulation requires companies to state upfront the support period for the provision of security updates. Therefore, Apple is required to provide security updates for at least 5 years from the launch of the device. 

Compared to its Android peers, Apple's software support period is no longer seems to be the best in the industry. During the launch event of the Pixel 8 series in October 2023, Google shared that it is offering 7 years of updates to the OS, security and Feature Drops (software). 

Samsung followed up earlier this year with the launch of the Galaxy S24 series where it pledged to support 7 generations of OS upgrades and 7 years of security updates.

That said, we must mention that Apple has typically provided more than 5 years of security updates for its phones. A recent example is the iPhone 6s, which received a security update in March 2024. The iPhone 6s was released in September 2015, which is almost 9 years ago.

Source: Apple via Android Authority

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