Back in 2014, Google announced that they would be officially updating Chromebooks for 5 years after their release date.
This seemed reasonable, as it’s quite similar to Microsoft’s Windows life cycle, and certainly better than Apple’s Mac OSX life cycle.
It seems even more reasonable when you consider that the CR-48 is still receiving updates, despite the fact that it’s official EOL date was December of last year.
A few models are approaching (or have already passed) their EOL dates, but it’s worth taking a look at a couple little notes at the bottom of Google’s Chrome OS Device EOL Policy are as follows:
1 Except where noted, these are unofficial End Of Life dates. Official EOL for these models will be at this date or later.
2 Officially announced End Of Life date.
So while every model has a date, the vast majority of them aren’t “official”, meaning support could extend beyond those dates. So far, the only two devices to have been “Officially announced” are the CR-48 (December 2015), and the Samsung Series 5 (June 2016), and remember the CR-48 is still receiving updates. So even official doesn’t mean official.
Does this mean the Samsung Series 5 will continue to receive updates? No, not necessarily. It’s Google, you never know what they’re going to do. Perhaps they’re supporting the CR-48 for nostalgia purposes. But it stands to reason that if the CR-48 is still receiving updates, that maybe the Samsung Series 5 will too. Who knows tho, really. Like I said, it’s Google we’re talking about here.
Just please don’t complain if your device stops receiving updates. You’ve officially been warned. Your best bet is to assume that your device is going to stop receiving updates when it hits it’s official EOL date, and any subsequent updates after that are just bonus.
Another device to keep an eye on is the Acer AC700, which has an EOL date of August 2016.
I would guess they’ll support a device until they make a change to the OS that requires either new drivers or more computing power than the hardware provides. The new Android run-time in Chrome OS could be one of those differentiators that sets weaker hardware (less ram, for example) apart from the newer.
Thanks for the heads up! I hope that Google/the vendor can unlock the boot loader so we can install Linux on the devices.
I know it is not a part the story, but it is incorrect that Apple has a worse life cycle regarding OS updates. I know for a fact that the macbook air late 2008 can run the current Mac OS 10.11, and this model is soon approaching 8 years old now. The 2011 iPhone 4S runs the current IOS 9, as do the 2011 iPad 2. Google’s device update history is horrible for phones and tablets; my Nexus 4 runs Ubuntu Touch very well, but didn’t receive any updates beyond 2 years, and apparently my soon 3 year old Nexus 5 will not be updated when Android N is released later this year. Let me remind you that Microsoft abandoned the owners of the first Windows phone 7 devices, as well as the owners of the arm based Surface tablets.
Apple’s update cycle seem to vary with changes in technology, and is not linked to an artificially set future date. I have been a first mover and purchased the first MacBook, the first iPhone and the first iPad, and these devices were not that lucky in terms of updates.