A Samsung EVP (Govt Vice President) has just about confirmed that the Galaxy S24 will miss out on a number of One UI 7 (Android 15) options as a result of they’re designated as “{hardware} reliant.” You should not be stunned about this. Disillusioned, possibly, however not stunned.
This highlights one thing most individuals aren’t serious about — an organization can help a telephone for seven years, however it may well’t make newer options work on older {hardware} each time. Seven years of updates does not actually imply what you assume it means.
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This isn’t a nasty factor, even when it appears like a nasty factor. Samsung explains that lots of the AI options depend upon what Samsung calls the Private Information Engine and that engine is not supported on older chips; it wants the Snapdragon 8 Elite as a way to work correctly.
We’ll see extra of this as Agentic, or “pondering” AI options, are developed, and it is best to count on to see some options on the Galaxy S26 that won’t come to the S25. And that is OK.
You shouldn’t purchase a telephone since you count on one thing sooner or later. A telephone ought to do every part it’s marketed to do, be largely bug-free, and be supported to do these issues so long as potential. Having seven years of help means your telephone will most likely outlast your battery.
This is not a Samsung factor. It isn’t even an Android factor. We’re seeing the very same from Google with the Pixel sequence and there can be a number of options that may’t be used on the older {hardware}. The iPhone is similar, with iOS options changing into extra hardware-dependent as AI is additional built-in into the working system.
I like this. You may not, and we will disagree, however figuring out {that a} telephone I purchase in 2025 will nonetheless be supported and carry out as anticipated in 2030 is superb. I don’t count on any new options and those which might be developed are a bonus. Hopefully, any new options work as they need to.
Telephones are at some extent the place {hardware} is barely a limiting issue when corporations leverage these small incremental options they create. Much more so when an organization develops its personal chip — both a full SoC package deal or customized coprocessors — which have a particular use.
Apple is a superb instance — the A16 Bionic contained in the iPhone 15 is as {powerful} because the chip that powers a typical laptop computer. It ought to have the ability to deal with something iOS has to supply. It is restricted in terms of AI as a result of Apple devoted components of the newer chip to carry out these features.
The Snapdragon or Tensor chip is not practically as {powerful} in terms of uncooked processing, however they’re greater than a CPU, and components of the chipset are doing very particular issues. These components simply aren’t inside older telephones.
Forcing new options to work with “inferior” {hardware} would solely make the options worse. Engineers like to develop new stuff and need everybody to make use of it, and telephone makers like to lock new options behind the acquisition of a brand new telephone, however the actuality is that generally there are actual the explanation why an older mannequin cannot do what it must do.
What’s actually vital is that telephone producers are starting to comprehend (or care) that we need not purchase a brand new telephone yearly and even each two years. A few of us do not wish to. I doubt very many individuals will use the identical telephone for seven years — even I’d improve earlier than then — however figuring out that you would is superior.
Now, we simply want each telephone maker to get on board and supply customer support so long as Samsung, Google, and Apple do, even when it means among the new flashy stuff will not be included.
Extremely-powerful
The Galaxy S25 Extremely is Samsung’s newest flagship, with all of the bells and whistles you assume you may want, like a strong chipset, a 200MP quad-camera system, and a built-in stylus. The Snapdragon 8 Elite powers Galaxy AI options that older telephones simply cannot deal with.
