The Pixel 6 was a pivotal cellphone for Google, debuting the corporate’s self-branded Tensor chipsets and a brand-new {hardware} design language that is nonetheless being iterated on within the newest Pixel units. However the 6 and 6 Professional missed the boat on Google’s ongoing dedication to longer software program help: starting with final yr’s Pixel 8 sequence, Google now ensures seven years of Android model updates for its telephones. The Pixel 6, in the meantime, was promised solely three — which ran out with final month’s replace to Android 15.
The Pixel 6 is not all of the sudden out of date now, nevertheless. Many new options will nonetheless make their option to Pixel 6 telephones by app updates, and important safety patches will nonetheless be delivered for a few years. In case you’re nonetheless utilizing a Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Professional, this is what you should learn about your updates going ahead.
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Pixel 6 most likely will not see Android 16
Supply: Android Police
Per Google’s official help documentation, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Professional have been assured Android model updates “till a minimum of” October 2024. In what is going to virtually actually be the Pixel 6 sequence’s final main OS replace, Android 15 landed on the telephones final month, fulfilling Google’s promised three-year Android replace timeline.
We’re anticipating Android 16 to be launched sooner than different variations have. Google has confirmed a “main SDK launch” — that’d be Android 16 — for the second quarter of subsequent yr, breaking with the established sample of pushing out new Android variations within the fall. Nonetheless, given the discharge will come months after the Pixel 6’s Android replace window has closed, it is unlikely the following model will land on Google’s 2021 telephones.
Whereas the Pixel 6a was additionally assured three years of Android model updates, it went on sale months after the usual Pixel 6, in July 2022. Which means the Pixel 6a’s window lasts till July 2025. If Android 16 is launched within the second quarter, the Pixel 6a ought to get it.
The Pixel 6 sequence hasn’t been deserted, although. The 6 and 6 Professional acquired Android 15’s first patch within the November replace, they usually’re slated to proceed receiving safety updates for a minimum of a pair extra years.
What to anticipate on Pixel 6 going ahead
The Pixel 6 was solely assured Android model updates by final month, however Google has promised safety updates for a minimum of 5 years from the cellphone’s on-sale date, till October 2026 on the earliest. So if you happen to’re rocking a Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Professional, you possibly can relaxation assured that you will be as protected from main safety vulnerabilities as another Pixel proprietor till then.
Google’s Pixel 6 Android model replace assure ending this yr additionally does not essentially disqualify the cellphone from future function updates. Google’s help docs specify that the Pixel 6’s full five-year replace lifespan “may additionally embody Pixel drops” that may add new performance.
New options are sometimes delivered outdoors Android model updates, too — anti-theft measures Google introduced alongside Android 15 are “obtainable for many Android 10+ units,” whether or not they’re nonetheless eligible for OS updates or not. And the lion’s share of the flashy AI options Google’s been implementing currently are depending on particular person apps, not system updates. Gemini will proceed to perform and get new options on the Pixel 6 for years to come back. AI options in different apps like Google Images’ Ask Images and Google Lens’s new multimodal enter additionally do not require the newest model of Android.
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The Pixel 6 working out of Android model updates will not have a lot of an impression on common customers. In case you’re nonetheless utilizing a Pixel 6 and also you’re pleased with it in any other case, you should not really feel compelled to expire and improve simply because your cellphone most likely will not see Android 16. I would not suggest persevering with to make use of a Pixel 6 after it stops getting safety patches, however that is nonetheless a few years away.
All that being mentioned, the greatest Android telephones in the marketplace right this moment are actually good. Coming from a Pixel 6, one thing just like the Pixel 9 or Galaxy S24 goes to really feel like a big improve, particularly in construct high quality and battery life. It is a positive time for Pixel 6 house owners to improve — simply not essentially due to Android updates.