Google extends Chromebook support from 8 years to 10 after heightened backlash
Google announced today that it's extending Chromebooks' automatic update support from 8 years to 10 years for devices released from 2019 and later. The move follows increasing criticism from consumers, schools, and advocacy groups around the many Chromebooks in use and on sale with looming death dates.
"All Chromebook platforms will now get regular automatic updates for 10 years," Google's blog post says. Numerous Chromebooks released in 2019 were about to expire next year. Now, no Chromebooks should be expiring within the next two years.
Google's blog continues:
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Starting in 2024, if you have Chromebooks that were released from 2021 onwards, you’ll automatically get 10 years of updates. For Chromebooks released before 2021 and already in use, users and IT admins will have the option to extend automatic updates to 10 years from the platform’s release when they receive their last automatic update.
Ten years of support is a notable achievement for Chromebooks, which are often budget-priced. The average Mac receives seven years of macOS updates. Windows, meanwhile, usually sees 10 years of updates, but you can install Windows (and update it) on devices from as long ago as the late 2000s. Chromebooks are unique in individual models having automatic update expiration (AUE) dates and have faced criticism for this for years.
Elizabeth Chamberlain, director of sustainability at iFixit, told Ars Technica:
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Basing update and service timelines on first manufacture date instead of last new sale date is a fundamentally flawed model. It allows for the awful possibility that someone might buy a new retail product with expired security support, which should never happen.
:story: Ars Technica
