What's funny is that these days if I see a Google product that I'm even remotely interested in, I just immediately write it off because I know it's something they will kill in a very short time frame.
It's just never worth the hassle of buying/using a Google product. Never.
Their hardware is usually fine when it comes to support. Google announces the support lifetime of their devices and sticks to it, with feature updates coming to things like phones even after the support period ended through things like app stores. Just check the support lifetime of the device before buying (early Pixels only had 2 years of support, as was announced at release).
Their cloud services are nothing but hot air but their hardware support has been excellent for the past few years. Easily beats other major manufacturers. I'm still annoyed that Apple won't tell you how long they will support their hardware. Other competitors manage to be even worse.
"support" meaning drivers and basic security updates, sure.
but if you buy this for the gemini integration, what are the odds that google actually sticks with that, or two years from now are you going to have a laptop that lags behind the feature set available in the gemini app for mac because they didn't sell enough of these to bother continuing development?
The Gemini app has been backported to at least Android 14 as far as I could tell (that's the oldest OS I saw it on), probably further.
Hard to say they're going to keep giving you new features, but buying a device for the future things that may be brought to it is always a massive gamble, like buying a Macbook for their failed promise of Apple Intelligence or a Windows laptop for the promised advantages of Copilot.
If the device works well enough to be worth the money, it'll keep working. If you want fancy stuff in the future, hold off on buying new hardware and wait until the stuff you want is actually available.
Google also has a better track record than some companies (cough apple) of keeping their devices unlockable/open enough that they can have a second life regardless of whether google keeps up on the software side.
You can install linux on the nexus 7 tablets.
You can install linux on the old PixelBook or Chromebook Pixel.
An iPad bought at the same time as the nexus 7 (the original iPad air) has become a useless insecure brick that can't even load modern websites, let alone support linux. The nexus 7 can have linux or a custom android rom flashed to work fine, albeit with a pretty crappy processor.
Hmmmmmmmm
Nest Secure Google Home Stadia Daydream Glass Nexus Pixel Slate Pixelbook Chromecast Audio OnHub Jamboard
I think there's a difference between cancelled (or renamed in the case of Google Home and Nexus) product lines and something no longer working. Most of that list falls into the former, but otherwise probably work fine.
This Googlebook will probably be a lot like the Pixelbook. Probably cancelled after 1 generation, but still usable for 5-10 years as you'd expect from a laptop.
I don't have most of those, but from the entire list I only recognise Stadia as something that stopped working entirely, and I got my full purchase price back for that.
Chromecast still works great.
My chromecast audio still works great. No idea about the rest, but that I do know.
They refunded me all the money I spent on the Stadia + games and unlocked the video game controllers so I can use them with other systems... my only regret is that I didn't buy more
I know right? And I ended up getting a chromecast free through that refund as well.
The list of departed google products could be put to the music of the names of the countries of the world.
My chromecast audio still works great.
My Pixel 3A stopped receiving security updates after less than 3 years. I remember Google did this to start using their own chips in their phones.
Two or three years is not even close to the support Apple provides. It sealed the deal for me and I switched to iPhone.
As was disclosed on Google's product support pages the day of launch.
These days, Google promises at least 7 years, which is longer than most iPhone people seem to use theirs. There's no doubt their limited support windows sucked in the past, but none of that was hidden or a surprise.
Apple could stop updating the iPhone 15 tomorrow and they wouldn't be breaking any promises to anyone. They refuse to publish even a minimum support period.
My Pixelbook from 2017 still receives regular Chrome OS updates.
You're on hacker news though, so you can install linux on it: https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Google_Pixel_3a_(google-s...
Pixel devices have historically been really good about letting you unlock the bootloader and install what you want, so even if Google drops support, the community can keep it going.
Apple devices just turn into useless bricks once apple deems them too old. Frankly, I think apple should be legally required to allow users to unlock devices, like you pay for the device, you should be able to use the hardware.
Yes, they've since more than doubled the support lifetimes to seven years.
What about when that “support” is to brick your battery so your phone lasts hours because they know it is defective but don’t want to fix it?
Google’s hardware track record is a joke compared to Apple.
Not arguing with your point about Google, but isn't Apple very often accused of forced obsolescence through updates to their phones? Is there any truth to the accusations of "running slower and dying faster" after a new model releases?
Communication wise, the whole thing (4a in my case, but the others seemed similar) was a disaster. But they offered to fix it for free (via battery swap)
My understanding is that, depending on the phone vendor, such support may only apply to security updates after ~3 years and not feature updates.
It's only been 2.5 years since they said that. I'm sure they will walk back on their word before it has been 7 years.
The increased update timelines by Google, Samsung and others roughly coincided with EU legislation coming into effect that mandates 5 years of updates after end of sales. We'll see.
https://www.heise.de/en/news/From-June-20-EU-gives-smartphon...
Correction: if the manufacturer chooses to provide updates, and they don't have to, they must continue to make those updates available for five years after end of sales.
In other words, manufacturers aren't required to publish updates at all, but if they do provide updates they have to make them available to users for five years after they stop sales. This only stops the case where a manufacturer ships a device and publishes updates for the device, but then takes those updates offline after they stop selling the device (but before 5 years is up).
https://www.theandroidportal.com/motorola-android-update-loo...
Interesting. If Motorola gets away with that, loopholes can be closed.
Do you have any part examples of them committing to a specific support timeline on a product and reneging on it? I can't think of one.
Google promised their Nexus phones would get new versions of Android for X years then, after selling a bunch of them, just changed their mind.
I'm having a hard time googling it since every result that comes up is about Google cancelling Nexus phones entirely way back when, but I remember a lot of Nexus users were kind of PO'ed about it.
I mean I guess anything is possible, but the Pixel 6 and 7 also are receiving 5+ years of updates, and those sure seem real so far.
My 9 year old Pixelbook is still supported and will continue to get updates for one more year! I did not expect that went I originally bought it.
Pixels receive at least 7 years now.
> early Pixels only had 2 years of support, as was announced at release
They also announced a promotion for unlimited cloud storage of photos and then shrank and JPEG massacred the photos. That part of my photo library is still visibly trashy to this very day. Every time I browse my photos, I am reminded that google did this.
yeah, even on product lines that they kill (like Stadia) they usually do right by the user (eg they refunded everyone, both on hardware and software people bought on the platform).
I thought Apple does tell you how long they'll support hardware.
For example: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102772
That page shows "vintage" products, which is a category they apply after "5 to 7 years". It describes replacement parts and (bought) maintenance service in store locations.
They don't state how long they will provide software updates.
That's not how long they will provide software support. It's how long you can get a hardware repair. Some "vintage" products will get current software support but not others. Some products have lost software support before even reaching "vintage" like the first Gen iPad.
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I like to keep phones a long time. Before I finally slotted in a sketchy new third party battery, my last android would suddenly shut off at anywhere from 15-30℅ battery remaining because of the voltage drop. I think they deserve a pass for that "scandal".
I've never seen this with Pixels
https://youtu.be/YfnfhM4O_S8?t=202
45% battery on iOS 18
25% battery on iOS 26 (which corresponds to iOS 19)
...
This is 2026
https://www.ladbible.com/technology/iphone-ios-update-26-del...
(sadly got stuck with that degraded phone because the Apple Watch that refuses to pair if you run iOS 18)
The timestamped part of the video shows an iPhone 15 and 17, both on iOS 26.3. 45% on the iPhone 17 and 25% on the iPhone 15.
Only the iPhone XR in that test is on iOS 18. It scored behind all of the models on iOS 26.3 except for the iPhone SE. But that's not a useful comparison because who knows what condition the XR's battery is in at this point, and nothing else ran on a comparable iOS version.
Not sure what point you were trying to make with that video, but it doesn't really demonstrate cross-version battery performance.
That is a gross misrepresentation of the situation. Old batteries' internal resistance rises and they become unable to deliver high current. If you try, thanks to V=IR, the output voltage will droop and you'll brown out. Limiting CPU speed prevents high current draw and random device resets. The alternative was to let it run fast and have it randomly reset under load even when battery is 50% full.
All of this is only relevant cause apple devices are often used for so long after release (5-7 years, this message typed on a 5 year old iPhone) [1] (random source, more available on google.com) while statistically few android devices last long enough in consumer pockets for this to matter (2.5-3 years is average)
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/9uha1o/android_vs_...
Who designed the phone to not have a user-replaceable battery, making CPU speed limiting guaranteed to occur with age?
No, they do not, and they did not.
They started throttling devices based on battery age after "Batterygate" in 2016, after a wave of news that their phones were suddenly shutting off on high load because the batteries terminal voltage dropped. They do not "artificially slow down before a new release".
The were sued because in their typical arrogance, they neglected to _tell_ people about that. They did not lose, they settled a class action suit.
As a result, they made battery management and state a lot more transparent in iOS, as they should have done in the first place.
Claiming malicious planned obsolescence, as you did, requires facts not in evidence.
Of course they did. My iPad 2 worked perfectly up until iOS6 and crawled to a screeching halt after upgrading to iOS7. Constant lags, freezes, sometimes even crashes of the same apps which worked fine a week before. And to protect consumers even more, Apple blocks firmware downgrade, despite old version working just fine for years later.
Try iOS 26, you'll see what it means in practice, you will get a phone with worse battery life, slower operating system and no path to downgrade, only way is to upgrade your phone to the next big thing.
If it's not malicious, then it's gross incompetence, but at the end of the day, it will still eventually require to purchase a new Apple device, when a downgrade would have been enough.
It's not the first time even: https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/iphone-update-iss... <iPhone user sparks debate after device becomes ruined following mandatory update: 'This is just ridiculous'>
It's a long-term issue, because even if it will get fixed in two years, then the battery damages due to severe drain are permanent, and this is to be paid with your pocket, or again... upgrade to a new iPhone.
It's not the first cycle like this, slower software is deployed to all iPhones, older iPhones lag, and you have to purchase the fresh new iPhone.
==
==This is about the generic software updates.
The main issue is that you have no path to downgrade, no way to use your own OS, and your only choice is to hope for an update from Apple that will revert back your device to its normal way of working, or, purchase a new phone, which won't have this issue.
It's literally impossible that they have not noticed, so if not planned obsolescence, at least, it is intentional degradation of existing products (or that their team is not able to notice...)
It's rather the other proof around that we would like to see, that Apple did not know the impact of what they are doing. If they knew, you know what it means.
> They did not lose, they settled a class action suit.
I mean... settling means you lost, almost by definition. You were sued and then paid the person who sued you. Settling is the result of almost all lawsuits where the company knows they were at fault - why would you go to trial if you know you're going to lose?
Now, don't get me wrong - your overall point could still be correct. Many companies who still do believe themselves to not be at fault, offer a settlement purely for the reason that it's cheaper in terms of legal fees (or perhaps less of a PR nuisance, or just generally lower-risk) than going to trial.
> I mean... settling means you lost, almost by definition.
No, since "settling" is something both sides do, if it were losing, it would be both sides losing.
Settling is a decision to compromise to mitigate the cost of litigation (and in the US, which does not have loser pays as the default rule, that can be quite expensive even if you win) as well as the risk of loss. You can’t really characterize it as being more "winning" or "losing" for anyone one party without a much more detailed consideration of the specific terms and the expected costs of litigation, etc.
> You can’t really characterize it as being more "winning" or "losing" for anyone one party without a much more detailed consideration of the specific terms and the expected costs of litigation, etc.
Yeah... you can. The party suing received $500 million. That's a win.
Yes, a settlement has to be agreed on by both sides, but that doesn't mean the party suing didn't win. It just means that, maybe they could have won more.
Where you and the parent commenter are correct is that, the result of this case is not the same as a court verdict regarding the legality of Apple's conduct. That part true - if we're talking about "was Apple truly intentionally killing their phones to get you to buy a new one", the outcome of the case says nothing about that.
But to make a statement like "they didn't lose, they settled" is just misleading. Almost every company that has ever done something illegal settled, that's not an argument either. This case had at least enough merit to spook Apple into coughing up over half a billion dollars ($500 million to the class action and $100 million to the coalition of state attorneys general who sued Apple for deceptive practices). (Again, not proof of guilt but at least evidence of the claims having some merit.) In the grand scheme of things they definitely lost.
My experience with Google hardware has been the opposite. Three early Pixel phones died within a year or two, and pretty abysmal experience with Pixel Buds. They'd send me replacements, but I tired of them breaking.
I switched to an iPhone after being a long-time Android fan. Haven't looked back. Converted my wife to an iPhone too. Apple is better at hardware.
iPhones also receive security updates for a long time. I buy iPhone 3+ generation old brand new at the Apple store, and it... works really well.
Apple might not specify a time upfront but they do consistently support hardware for a good length of time. IPhones generally get OS updates for 5-6 years and security for at least a couple more.
I’ve never used anything they made long enough to get there.
What about Nest? It's great that they announced a lifetime and stuck with it I guess? Sucks for anyone who bought into the ecosystem. You'd have to pay me to try and adopt more google products at this point, otherwise it's almost certainly sooner or later going to be deemed a waste of money/time.
> Their hardware is usually fine when it comes to support. Google announces the support lifetime of their devices and sticks to it
If they announce a support lifetime they stick to it.
For other products they'll just decide they're done with it and give you a little warning period. Maybe some store credit or another bonus depending on the product.
> Their hardware is usually fine when it comes to support.
Pixel stands were horrible. And discontinued.
My nest thermostat disagrees with your optimism.
I was interested but then just immediately wrote it off because of the AI-centric marketing.
Why anything AI make me want to buy a whole laptop? I can use AI from websites, apps, etc. already.
Tbf there were ads like this, keyboards with inane “internet” buttons, etc.
> I was interested but then just immediately wrote it off because of the AI-centric marketing.
Same here.
We're not the target audience for this product. In fact, we're as far as possible from it.
I argue this is both true and not true in stark ways with Google. Just look at Google Groups listserv, it's been running forever and arguably mosts used neighborhood listservs globally and has been very stable.. all largely for free. On the other hand, new experiments get chopped very quickly at Google. So, it's more like if the service can survive 2 years, then Google generally keeps it around*.
* unless it gets merged dozens of times into other similar projects.
It doesn’t matter to me that some of their products have longevity. I don’t know which they will keep and which they will discontinue and there are many vendors out there who have a better track record.
Chromebook has been around for 15yrs
Pretty good run. Wonder how many of those devices will support Aluminium OS and how long they'll support ChromeOS after Aluminium launches.
If I buy one today, is it guaranteed to run the newest OS in 3 years?
Unless Google have magically solved the Android update process, getting updates are the biggest downgrade when it comes to switching from ChromeOS to Aluminium OS.
Back to a world where every device needs the OS specifically built for it.
Makes sense why they branded these devices as Googlebooks instead of Chromebooks, so the user gets the impression that getting updates is one of the different things among many.
My point is that even though Chromebooks are a 15-year brand, there's no guarantee a Chromebook bought today will support the reconstructed OS successor to ChromeOS coming out in the next 2-3 years.
There's no guarantee a Googlebook will get updated for 2-3 years, you're completely at the mercy of the OEMs.
What a great time for Linux zero-days to start popping up because OEMs won't update the kernels.
Googlebook dot Google.
Pixelbook.
Chromebook.
Google Pixel.
What's next? Nestbook? Drivepad? Geminiphone?
A laptop built entirely around AI, which is definitely a stable business that will be around in its current form indefinitely and whose cost definitely won't go up once Google needs to start making a profit on it.
Agreed. I have been an early adopter of so many google products. I have been burned every single time. They have systemically and carefully sabotaged any trust the industry had in them.
If they don't kill it, they might kill your account with no recourse, or some automatic process might lock you out of certain features, or some major bug might leave you staring at a forum post with a "I have the same question" numbering in the thousands.
They'll be killing off Android any day now.
You can only dream. Even if they do it - there are billion devices that will hope google will build a new one.
And majority of the world like it.
If you want to share room with RMS and hope for GNU Hurd - do it.
The products that get killed are the ones that can't run ads or get run through the analytics wringer.
I'm sure they'll kill their TPU business any day now, too.
Like Coral? That one is already a zombie.
It is too good to be sold.
Doesn't the Google Play Store account for something like 15% of Google's revenue?
Agreed, yet I have a Pixel 8 (2nd hand) right now. The hope is that I don't care about their support anyway, it's just about GrapheneOS.
I really like the Pixel phone.
And when they cancelled Stadia I got a full refund including all game purchases, so it wasn’t that bad.
Not to mention the “customer” “service”. I have yet to talk to a human at google.
Same, I give all Google products a wide berth.
This is just chromeos+Gemini
No, that's an Android desktop OS which ChromeOS is not
Chromecast has been great for years and years, maybe they just kill the crap that should have never existed just like everybody else
I've had great luck with their hardware (phones / tablets) and they get updates frequently and for quite a long time.
Same for a while. OTOH a Pixel 9 Pro screen of a close friend broke 7 times in a year.
That sounds more like a problem with said friend :-)
7 times also sounds... well... Like a lot
Even if they don't kill it, this is certain to be even more privacy invading than their pre-AI offerings.
It is never for people like you. They try a lot. Something works and many not.
Some people like ikea - try to build. Others want just works items. Why not...
I feel the same way. Looks neat. But hard pass. I've been burned several times.
Google will probably kill off and shut down Google Search at this rate.
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As much as Stadia was a gut punch, at least for consumers Google did pretty well at making us whole (Full refunds for all Stadia purchases across the board) [0]
Obviously that's not much recompense if you were a game developer lured into some exclusive publishing deal, or even just someone buying a Stadia Controller, but c'est la vie I suppose
[0] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/11/google-refunding-thr...
> or even just someone buying a Stadia Controller
Getting the Stadia controller goes a long way, methinks. If you have one laying around, you can install the de-clouding firmware Google provided that converts it into a Bluetooth controller with excellent ergonomics and feel.
People who badmouth Stadia's shutdown expose themselves qw non-buyers. I'm yet to hear of a better product wind-down than Stadia: every single buyer got full refunds for games and hardware (i.e Chromecast). The firmware to convert Stadia controllers to plain ol' Bluetooth was a nice parting gift.
So whats next. Apple will force corners... Glass. Microsoft will push copilot. Firefox will push AI.
Are you waiting for w3m or curl?
It will also vacuum up your user data and use it to train AI models and such.
Google Fiber has been advertising a lot in my area. Despite the legacy ISP being as bad as most entrenched ISPs I can't see myself switching and adding another Google product into my life.
It might be cheaper and faster now, but will that still be true in a few years once Google has gotten bored with the project? Are they going to use this service to spam me with AI slop like they do everywhere else? What happens if a Google bot nukes my Google account, will that cut off my entire internet with no warning as well?
I'm not famous enough to raise a social media storm when they screw me over so it's a big risk doing business with the company.
GFiber isn't owned by Google anymore, which is why they changed the name. They're now part of Astound.
Not yet, sale hasn’t closed yet. They changed their name in advance of the sale though.
> What happens if a Google bot nukes my Google account, will that cut off my entire internet with no warning as well?
Yeah, the general approach to get support has been to be famous or to marry a Google employee, but the churn rate on Google employees is at the point that the latter is unsustainable.