It all started in August 2020, as Samsung had just finished unveiling the Galaxy Note20 series, the Tab S7, and the Watch3. It followed the announcements with a surprise, promising up to “three device generations” in OS updates. At the time, we weren’t too sure if the term “generation” was the company’s attempt at using wordplay to have its way with consumers, but the rest is history. New leaks suggest a similar occurrence at the next Unpacked event, but this time the company is adding another year of OS upgrades — and no, they haven’t changed the wording.

A tweet from Joshua Swingle reveals information about Samsung’s upcoming launch event, courtesy of serial leaker Evan Blass (Evleaks). The attached image resembles a press release of some sort, detailing Samsung’s plan to provide four OS upgrades instead of three and five years of security updates instead of four. If the leak turns out to be accurate, the incoming Galaxy S22 and Galaxy Tab S8 series will receive new OS versions up to Android 16 and still be supported for another year, security-wise. It’s made even more impressive by the fact that Samsung is extending this support to last year's Galaxy S21 series (including the S21 FE) and the Z Fold3 and Z Flip3 as well. Considering that most OEMs try to shrug off update commitments, it’s astounding that Samsung is embracing them.

Google had the chance to set a new update timeline, but it didn’t take it. Ambiguous update claims left us hoping that the company's Pixel 6 would be the one to break the three-year OS update cap, especially with the launch of the Tensor chip, its first self-branded SoC that doesn't rely on Qualcomm's support when it comes to updates. But that clearly didn’t happen. Samsung didn’t fail to snatch the opportunity, though. If other manufacturers want to compete, they will be forced to offer similar or better support, benefiting consumers even more.

Samsung has become so good at updates that it’s hard to think they once sucked at it. The company has been staking its claim as the true number one over the last few years by beating its own schedules and even Google sometimes. This change would keep current and upcoming Galaxy phones and tablets relevant for a considerably longer period. This is certainly exciting news, but let’s not get carried away just yet. The new update promise is not official, so we'll have to wait for the Galaxy Unpacked event just to be sure.