Comment by scottlamb | Hacker News Reader

Comment by scottlamb | Hacker News Reader

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I agree they could and should be supported for longer, but regarding your comparison to Apple:

> Love it or hate it, Apple still supports the iPhone 6s Plus. A phone which is almost 5 years old now.

You're comparing what Google guarantees up-front for all devices to what Apple has done for the one device. Did Apple give a guaranteed support date for the iPhone 6s Plus at launch? In a quick search, I couldn't find one. I did find articles (eg [1]) from January speculating if Apple would include the iPhone 6S in the iOS 14 update or not.

Google still may support the Pixel 4 for longer than three years.

edit: forgot to add the disclaimer earlier that I'm a Google employee. I don't work on Android or hardware.

[1] https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/ios/story/don-t-ditch-y...

Actions speak louder than words. 10+ years of supporting iPhones and continuously increasing the service life of them says a lot more than a marketing promise.

Apple considers a product "vintage" five years and "obsolete" seven years after the last one is sold: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624

Interesting, thanks! That covers hardware service/parts. Do they have a matching policy for software updates, at least security-related ones?

Apple has a sufficient track record that speaks for itself.

When you say Google guarantees support up front (like a benefit), what you'll really find is that's a guarantee support ends on that timeline.

Apple (in my observation) tends not to say what length of support will be given, but offers it well beyond when an average person would throw away a device 2-3x over.

When Google says 3 years guaranteed, you can be damned sure you're done at 3 years.

> When you say Google guarantees support up front (like a benefit), what you'll really find is that's a guarantee support ends on that timeline.

No, they say at least and have extended support dates before, eg: https://chromeunboxed.com/chromebook-end-of-life-extended-13... (That's Chromebooks; I'm not sure about Nexus/Pixel phones in particular.)

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