TL; DR
- A new security update for the Samsung Galaxy S8 series is rolling out in at least one country.
- However, the Galaxy S8 range has reached the end of its life, so there should be no more updates.
- It is possible that this had to do with a recent Qualcomm hardware failure, although it is currently unclear.
In April of this year, the Samsung Galaxy S8 series received its supposedly last update. Since the devices hit the market in 2017, they had reached the end of Samsung’s update promise.
However after SamMobile, a new update for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus is now rolling out in Bolivia. It has firmware version G95xFXXUCDUE1 and it contains the Android security patch dated May 2021. Usually, updates for Samsung phones are delivered in European locales first before moving to other areas. It is reasonable to assume that this update will soon be landing in other countries.
See also: A story of the entire Samsung Galaxy S series
However, the question is why is this happening? It may have to do with a Qualcomm hardware issue that was patched in the May 2021 security update. Since the Galaxy S8 series missed this with their last April 2021 patch, Samsung may have found it important enough to release one final update.
While this is great news for Samsung Galaxy S8 owners, don’t get too hopeful of seeing more patches in the future. The Galaxy S8 series is definitely finished and probably won’t get anything after this one. Though we figured that out back in April, who knows what Samsung might have in store.