With iOS_14, Apple once again crushes Android makers on software update

It's time to talk software updates again. Specifically, just how bad Android phone makers are doing compared to Apple's iPhone. And they are doing really bad in comparison.

       Apple's iOS_14 will be available for a bunch of phones, but what's important is that phones from 2015 like the iPhone_6S and even the original "budget" iPhone_SE from 2016 will be getting the update the same day that the brand new iPhone 11Pro gets it. That is awesome for anyone who uses the phones.

• Even Google won't update an Android phone from 2015 and it owns the platform.

Meanwhile, there are just a handful of phones guaranteed to get Android 11 and there is a very good chance that you'll have to wait at least six months after it is released before it comes to most of them. There are no phones from companies like Samsung(which drives the Android ecosystem almost single-handedly) built in 2015 or 2016 that will be getting Android_11.

       Without phones running the new software, developers aren't going to take advantage of the new features it brings. And this is what makes it all so bad.

       You'll see apps start to use Android_11's features a year after its release when Galaxy phones and LG Phones and Motorola Phones get an update. You deserve better than that, but you can't really blame the developers for not spending time and money to support a few random Pixel and OnePlus users when the rest of the world can't use the stuff.

• Apple is spending money to make sure older phones get updated and Samsung isn't. Nor is Google.

It's easy for Apple because it spends money to over build the internals that matter on the iPhone and own the rights to the chipset so it can update the OS anytime it likes. That's why you see phones like the 2020 iPhone SE with a processor powerfull enough to run a laptop. It's overkill right now, but five years from now it will meet the minimum specs so Apple can keep customers happy and keep them spending when they eventually upgrade.

       We'll say it once more : you deserve better. You deserve the updates at the same pace and for the same length of time that Apple offers.