That is much clearer. It’s the same three years of updates you currently get with Pixels, and 1 more year of security updates.
– Ron Amadeo (@RonAmadeo) December 16, 2020
The first phones to benefit from the improvements to Project Treble will be those with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 888 chip, which will make its way to high-end devices early next year. Qualcomm later clarified it plans to support its lower-level chips in the same way.
Of course, none of this will help you if you have a phone without a Snapdragon processor. While Qualcomm is the most prominent chip maker in the Android space, it’s not alone. Many entry-level and mid-range phones run MediaTek processors. It’s also important to point out that this isn’t a policy Google will require from companies like Samsung and OnePlus. The search giant is only working with Qualcomm to make it easier for manufacturers to support their devices longer.
But in a world where most flagship Android phones don’t receive more than three years of OS updates and some cheaper devices only get two years of support, this is a step in the right direction.