Last week the Fairphone 4, originally launched in Europe in 2021, finally arrived in the US, albeit in a modified software form, “de-googled” as they say.
Today, the sustainable smartphone company is in the news again, this time in relation to its previous models, the Fairphone 3, released in 2019, and the Fairphone 3+ from 2020. Fairphone says it can’t ship Android 12 to these devices because the chipset maker (Qualcomm) didn’t support it for the Snapdragon 632 inside.
#Android13 is now available for Fairphone 3 and 3+ 🎉 pic.twitter.com/vmFxtXtHAE
— Fairphone (@Fairphone) July 10, 2023
So, Fairphone’s “inhouse awesome team” has now taken over software support for the device and delivered Android 13 for both models, skipping Android 12 altogether. Fairphone’s goal is to support each of its phones for at least five years after launch, which means the Fairphone 3 window expires next year.
We aim to support Fairphone 3 for at least 5 years after launch 📱, providing software updates until the end of August 2024. But since longevity is one of our core values, we aim for 2 more years of support, taking us to 2026! 🌿
— Fairphone (@Fairphone) July 10, 2023
That said, the software team is now “aims” to actually add two more years of support to the Fairphone 3, thus bringing the latest update to 2026. That would be quite a feat for the modular device and undoubtedly great news for users. its owners, provided they haven’t already upgraded to something not powered by the Snapdragon 632 SoC.
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