> My understanding of the android ecosystem is that pixel phones are much more likely to be updated than iPhones
I don't remember the specifics, but I migrated to iOS after being appalled at how quickly my Pixel phone was losing OS updates, including security updates. IIRC, it was due to lose updates after it was less than three years old.
I think all the Pixel devices had at least 3 years of security updates at least from the US release date. There may have been a few variants that released later in the year so they technically had less.
At least now now with Google's own chips (Pixel 6+) the guarantee is 5 years of security updates but still only 3 of Android version updates.
And how long after Google stops directly selling units as new anywhere in the world does Google offer security updates? That’s the more relevant number, no?
At the very least, marketing and packaging for units sold as new near the end of the security lifecycle should have a disclosure like: “We will try to keep this phone secure until [EOL DATE]. Beyond that date, use of this phone may leave you vulnerable to cyberattacks.” Honestly, that would be a great disclaimer to make a legal requirement for all phones, or even all connected devices for which the concept even makes sense.
(Disclosure: I used to work for Google over 8 years ago. But I never had any involvement with Android in any way, other than trying some versions of Android before they were released outside of Google and maybe giving some feedback internally. I’m certainly not speaking for anyone but myself here.)
> 3 years of security updates at least from the US release date
Which means that after an initial period of half a year of "production is still slow, you have to wait" and another half year of "we maybe start selling this to Europe now", for the device I've bought today, updates will last a mere 2 years.
Yeah but iPhones are the least secure phones. You might get 6 years of security, but the amount of 0 click exploits that were seen in the wild have caused death(Khashoggi at a minimum) and nude leaks(Bezos).
I don't remember the specifics, but I migrated to iOS after being appalled at how quickly my Pixel phone was losing OS updates, including security updates. IIRC, it was due to lose updates after it was less than three years old.