QCM6490 is their long term support chip (8 years), the product was released in 2021. That means we have until 2028 for security updates.
UPDATE: 2028 is the official support timeline from Qualcomm.
The fairphone five releases in 2023, claims 10 years of updates until 2033.
There is a 6 year gap in Qualcomms QCM6490 support window and FairPhones support window. Baseband security will get abandoned with 6 years left on the clock. Rough.
I think this is exactly the problem that caused GrapheneOS to initially reject the earlier fair phones.
https://www.qualcomm.com/products/internet-of-things/industrial/building-enterprise/qcm6490
"Long term support for Android OS upgrades, Linux, Ubuntu, Windows 11 IoT Enterprise, security updates and enterprise grade hardware."
Updated Reference: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/08/fairphone-5-sets-a-new-standard-with-8-10-years-of-android-support/
Yeah that's not really great. But what could they do about it?
Kinda annoyed that their "live" event, is a bunch of pre-recorded videos.
lol... it just finished, just pre-recorded videos.
Yeah haha
I would like to see a well rounded phone that makes sense for anyone. And I really hope they stick to a from factor at some point over multiple generations, so parts are interchangable/upgradable between them.
They just showed a model tear apart breakaway on the stream, doesn't look modular at all.
I see, they say "modular" but they mean "user replaceable"...
In general when I hear modular I think you could put in a variety of modules, not a single module. (like different cameras, different screens, different SOC, etc..)
So these modules will most likely NOT be compatible across phones.
That's how Fairphones have worked since their first model I think? It just means you can replace specific modules if something breaks, rather than having to replace the entire mainboard. They've also done a camera upgrade for existing phones in the past that way
FP3 Had an upgradable camera (basically the difference between that and FP3+) I think their specs are open though? 3rd party suppliers could make parts that are compatible
this would be really nice, see a commitment to modularity.
