Apple commits to 5 years of security updates for the iPhone, but that's not the whole story

Apple has a good track record when it comes to security updates for its devices, but now we have the company's first formal commitment for its iPhone, and it sounds surprisingly short: five years of security updates.

The news comes from the UK's new Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) regulation, which requires companies that manufacture phones to provide support periods for their devices. Per Apple's filing, for the iPhone 15 Pro Max in particular, this is a "minimum 5 Years from the first supply date," with the supply date being Sept. 22, 2023.

The PSTI defines a "security update” as a "software update that protects or enhances the security of a product, including a software update that addresses security issues which have been discovered by or reported to the manufacturer."

As Android Authority and Google's VP of Engineering Dave Kleidermacher pointed out, this is less than what is offered by some of Apple's competitors. Both Samsung and Google, for example, provide 7 years of security updates and Android OS updates for their latest flagship devices.

That said, while it would've been nice to have a longer formal commitment from Apple, users probably shouldn't worry too much that their phone will become obsolete after five years.

Apple typically offers longer support for its devices, especially when it comes to security updates for its phones. For example, in March 2024 the company released a security update for its iPhone 6s models which launched nearly nine years ago, in September 2015. The iPhone 6s models also had seven years of iOS updates, starting with iOS 9 and all the way through to iOS 15.