When each device stops getting security updates

A repair buys you time on a device. Software support decides how much time there is to buy. Spending $135 on a screen repair for the iPhone 12 — which is, by our estimate, in its final year of security updates — is a worse deal than paying the same amount on a device with years of support still ahead of it. The table below shows exactly how much runway every device has left, and the price alone will never tell you that.

32 devices. 2 have already reached the end of support; 6 are in their final year.

How to read these dates

These are the last year each device is expected to receive security updates, not feature updates — a phone often stops getting new OS versions years before it stops getting security patches, and it is the patches that matter for whether a device is still safe to use for banking and email.

They are estimates, derived from each manufacturer's stated update policy applied to the device's release date. Where a manufacturer has not committed to a policy, the figure is our read of their track record — we say so on our methodology page rather than presenting it as fact. Manufacturers do occasionally extend support, and the date moves when they do.

What to do with the date

• Support already ended. A repair buys a device that is already end-of-life. Our calculator returns replace here regardless of how cheap the repair is.
• One year left. A cheap repair can still be worth it, but plan the replacement rather than being surprised by it.
• Two or more years left. The support window stops being the deciding factor, and the money does — repair cost against the refurbished price and what your broken device is worth on trade-in.