Officially, Google only promised three years of Android updates, as well as two more years of security patches, for its 2021 Tensor flagships. The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are now getting Android 16 Developer Preview 1, which bodes well for the public launch.
The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are listed as getting “Guaranteed Android version updates until at least: October 2024.” This is followed by “Guaranteed security updates until at least: October 2026.”
Going by that, Android 15 should have been the last major update for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. However, it’s set to get Android 15 QPR1 in December and 15 QPR2 in March.
With the release of Android 16 Developer Preview 1, the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are supported. Assuming no issues emerge (like poor performance), this is a good step towards those two phones getting Android 16 when it launches in Q2 of 2025. An intermediary milestone to watch out for would be those devices proceeding to the Android 16 Beta in January.
It’s too early to tell how the Pixel 6a and Pixel 7 series, including the Fold and Tablet, will fare.
Pixel 6 users — like all other non-developers — should not manually install the Android 16 Developer Previews, and wait for the Beta Program at the start of the next year.
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