OnePlus announced a new software maintenance schedule!

Flagships will now receive three major Android updates and four years of security updates
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OnePlus was always known for its fast (Android) updates, but since some time (since they released more and more devices), the company seems to be struggling with its update schedule. This resulted in delayed and unstable updates for several devices. To name an example: the OnePlus Nord didn't receive an Open Beta for more than two months, while it should receive one every month. The old software update policy mentioned that OnePlus devices receive bi-monthly stable updates for two years and an extended year for security updates. This however changed once OnePlus started to announce budget devices; those will only receive one major Android update, as we previously wrote.

A while ago we also wrote that OnePlus and OPPO merged more company components. Pete Lau (OnePlus' CEO) said that he's confident that this change will have a positive outcome for the community and their users. The CEO also claimed it will allow OnePlus "to be more efficient, for example, bringing faster and more stable software updates for OnePlus users." Today, OnePlus announced that they will extend their Software Maintenance Schedule. 

To wrap up, these are the significant changes to their policy:

  • OnePlus and OPPO will merge their codebases to improve efficiency and standardisation (OxygenOS will still be a thing on international devices and it will apply to all devices getting Android 12)
  • Flagship product line (including T / R): The OnePlus 8-series and newer devices will receive three major Android updates and four years of security updates
  • Nord / Nord CE: The first OnePlus Nord and newer Nord / Nord CE devices will receive two major Android updates and three years of security updates. This is the current situation, so nothing will change in fact, compared to the old policy.
  • Nord N-series: Starting from N10 and N100, all N-series devices will receive one major Android update and three years of security updates. Before, they were meant to get only two years of security updates.

What however is a little disappointing, besides the good changes, is that the three major Android updates and four years do not apply to devices prior to the OnePlus 8-series. It effectively means that all devices before the 8-series will keep following the schedule of two major Android updates and three years of security updates. Carrier variants will follow the requirements of OnePlus' carrier partners.

Should more information become available, then we'll update the article accordingly.