Emir BardakçıIn a move that has the power to revolutionise the world of the smartphone completely, Google and Qualcomm announced a partnership that has the power to completely change the world of Android device software support. Recent Android Authority coverage has it that the partnership will enable companies to provide a record-breaking eight years of Android upgrades and security patches to the Snapdragon 8 Elite- powered gadgets. This move has the power to completely transform Xiaomi flagship models and the Xiaomi 15 Ultra which will be launched with Android 15 and Snapdragon 8 Elite that has been recently released specifically.
The Era of the Future of Support
The move marks a major improvement in Android device longevity. Only Google and Samsung presently offer a seven-year update cycle for flagship models, with the majority of companies—like Xiaomi—providing a standard of three to five years of update cycles. This move to an additional two years of update coverage would put Android companies that take part at the forefront of Apple and long-term software maintenance.
This comprehensive support system leans on the synergy of the application-specific integrated circuits of Qualcomm and the technology of the Google Project Treble. The latter technology separates the Android framework of the system from the custom implementations of the manufacturers and thus simplifies the system updating incredibly with minimal device code modifications. The foundation has been further strengthened with two Android Common Kernel upgrades that will help keep the device secure and be future-proof with respect to Android releases.
Cost Savings for Manufacturers
Qualcomm asserts that this will be a lower-cost solution for the manufacturers and will be an economic solution to provide the additional support period. The chip maker will not be able to compel participation, however they’ve announced that several of the manufacturers will be extending the device update cycles. The initial supported models will be the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset-packing smartphones with Android 15 pre-installed. This specification aligns with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and indicates that it might be the among the earliest models with this period of extra support. Phones with future iterations of the Snapdragon 8 and 7 series will also be part of this program, and the lower-cost models will also be supported.
Looking Ahead
Qualcomm has planned to take this program through the next five chipset iterations with a long device support roadmap. Nevertheless, it has been made clear that the last word regarding providing eight years of support will be with individual companies’ discretion. The program will not extend to the existing Snapdragon chips released before the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
For Xiaomi fans, this update has exciting possibilities. While no announcement has been made yet about how long the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro will be updated, with this move comes a real likelihood that the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and possibly the siblings will receive the full eight years of Android upgrades, dramatically extending the longevity and appeal of the flagship models.
Source: Android Authority
