- The Pixel 6 series, Pixel 7 series, and Pixel Fold will all get two additional years of updates
- That brings them up to five years of Android updates in total
- That’s still less than the Pixel 8 and Pixel 9
If you’re using a Pixel handset from a few years ago then we have some good news: Google has just quietly extended its support window for selected handsets.
As spotted by 9to5Google, the Google Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, Pixel Fold, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Pixel 6a will now all get five years of operating system updates.
Previously, these phones were only promised three years of operating system updates, along with five years of security updates, the latter of which isn’t changing.
So, this change means that you’ll probably get two more major Android versions than you might have expected with these phones, and Google also notes that new and upgraded features could arrive through Pixel Drops during these extra two years of updates.
This is great news, then, for anyone who likes to hang on to their phone for a while, though notably, it’s still less than you’ll get with the Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 lines, both of which are promised seven years of updates.
Android 17 and beyond
Still, this should mean the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will now get updates up to and including Android 17, whereas previously they would have already had their final major update with the Android 15 launch earlier this year.
The Pixel 6a will probably stop getting updates with the same Android release, but since it launched seven months later than the rest of the Pixel 6 line, it may yet get one more if Google deviates from its usual Android release timing, as it’s doing with Android 16 at least.
The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro should keep being supported up to and including Android 18, so there’s still three years of life in those phones.
And the Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold landed around seven months after the Pixel 7, so depending on when Android 19 lands, there’s a chance they could get that, but it’s more likely that Android 18 will be the final update for these phones, too.
