It’s official, the Google Pixel 9 series won’t ship with Android 15

Summary

• Google’s Pixel 9 series ships with Android 14, awaiting an Android 15 OTA update later this year.
• Android 15 has been rumored to be released in September 2024 and appears on schedule to do so.
• Past Pixel models have launched with a new Android version, but Google moving its hardware event forward by two months this year may have played a role in the Pixel 9 not shipping with Android 15.

Google just announced the new Pixel 9 series with four different phones in the lineup, comprising the Pixel 9, a more powerful 9 Pro, a larger 9 Pro XL, and the second iteration of the company’s foldable, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Most OEMs release new software alongside new hardware, and we were hoping to see these phones ship with Android 15 installed from the factory. However, it is now clear that Google will ship the Pixel 9 to customers with Android 14 installed, and version 15 delivered as an OTA update, hopefully later this year.

Earlier this year, Google announced plans to discontinue scheduled Android releases, instead releasing software wherever it is ready. The time frames are approximately the same, but with Android 15 beta builds, things seem to be taking some time, which is why the new Pixel 9 series is shipping with the previous version instead. We heard rumors about such delays late in July, and Google just made that official.

Since the Pixel 9 series is now up for pre-orders, Google has updated its online listings and shared the specifications for each model, including the default Android version. THe company isn’t mincing its words, openly stating every model this year will ship with Android 14, and will receive seven years of OS updates, security patches, and feature drops, now known as Pixel Drops.

Will we get an additional year of updates to compensate?

Seven years of software support is still among industry-leading standards for Android flagships, but using the same version of Android that shipped with the Pixel 8 on its successor effectively means you’re getting six years of software support on the Pixel 9 instead of the eight we would like.

We were quite miffed about this when the news came in through the grapevine ahead of the official launch, but Google hasn’t committed to giving us eight years of support for breaking the cycle, moving the Pixel launch up a month, and depriving it of the “delayed” Android 15 release. However, we’ve seen some devices get an update out of the blue, long after support ends, but that’s usually just to fix critical security vulnerabilities. Our hopes are now pinned on Google pulling an, “oh, and here’s one more update” seven years from now.