Apple has committed to providing a minimum of five years of iPhone security updates, as reported earlier by Android Authority. The disclosure comes as part of Apple’s plan to comply with the UK’s Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) Act, which requires companies selling internet-connected products to meet new security standards.
The law, which went into effect in April, compels companies to define the minimum length of time it will provide security updates for a product. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Apple will cap security updates at five years, as it’s only a minimum. Apple sometimes pushes security updates to older phones, too. In January, the company issued a security update to the nearly 10-year-old iPhone 5S to address a vulnerability. It also pushed an update to the iPhone 5S and 6 in 2022.
Screenshot: Apple
Apple’s filing lists the “defined support date” as a minimum of five years from September 22nd, 2023 — the release date for the iPhone 15. That means the iPhone 15 should receive security updates until at least 2028.
Apple typically doesn’t say how long an iPhone will receive security updates. Google and Samsung, on the other hand, have both guaranteed seven years of security updates on their newer devices.
Source: The Verge