Apple has been known for long software support windows for its iPhones, but the company has never officially promised a specific number of years. That is very different in the Android world, where practically all device makers have some kind of software support promise, with Google and Samsung being at the absolute forefront promising seven years of support for their respective flagships.
Apple has now been forced by new UK regulations to announce a minimum support window for its iPhone 15 family, specifically the iPhone 15 Pro Max in the screenshot below, and it chose to go with five years. That is obviously two years less than its main competitors, but there is a catch here – this is what Apple promises to deliver at a minimum.
Nothing is stopping the company from going beyond, even well beyond five years, as it sometimes has in the past. So do keep that in mind, this isn’t Apple saying it will end support after five years, it is instead saying that’s the minimum amount.
So for the first time we finally have some word from Apple on this matter, even if it wasn’t officially announced to the world in the same way Android device makers do it, and we had to find out in this roundabout way. Still, it gives us something to anchor to, and compare the Android competition to.