Qualcomm says Snapdragon 8 Elite phones can support up to 8 Android OS upgrades

Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers significant enhancements in performance, featuring on-device multimodal intelligence that will allow smartphones to integrate generative artificial intelligence capabilities natively. ditionally, next generation of flagship Android smartphones will be able to receive up to eight years of Android OS updates.

According to Qualcomm’s SVP and GM, Christopher Patrick, Snapdragon 8 Elite can easily support eight years of Android OS updates, allowing OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to extend software support. He ded that company is working with different brands to support software for longer, maximising shelf life of upcoming smartphones. This could allow consumers to continue using smartphone without having to replace it. This is a tall claim, especially from AI standpoint since language models are expected to grow in capabilities and size.

Several OEMs have alrey announced launch timelines for ir next flagship phones. OnePlus is coming up with OnePlus 13 later this month. Realme is also launching its GT 7 Pro smartphone in October. Asus, alongside brands such as Oppo, Xiaomi, and Honor, are also gearing up to introduce ir flagship phones. All se smartphones will use Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, meaning y will support up to eight Android upgres. However, it is not necessary since onus lies with OEM.

Currently, Samsung is only OEM that offers up to seven years of Android version upgres on its flagship models. Its next flagship phone will likely use Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, meaning it may get an extra year of Android version upgres. Google also offers seven years of Android version upgres on its latest Pixel phones, but it is unclear if ir successors will get an ded year since y use Google’s Tensor chipsets.

On or hand, Apple offers up to six years of software support on iPhones.