Samsung has announced that it will now provide updates for its televisions for seven years, but only for recent models.
Typically, a living room TV lasts at least a decade. If you buy a 4K set today, you likely won’t need a higher resolution in the future due to the average viewing distance and screen size. Technically, Full HD is already sufficient for most home settings. LCD panels with LED backlighting and OLEDs last a long time with normal viewing habits. Nowadays, the aging of a television is mostly due to its software. Once it stops receiving updates, the user experience quickly deteriorates, and more critically, security vulnerabilities can emerge. Essentially, you would need to disconnect your device once updates cease.
2024 and a few from 2023
Samsung’s promise of seven years of updates for its tv’s likely applies from the introduction date of the model. While this extension is a step forward, seven years still does not cover the entire lifespan of a device. Moreover, this extension only applies to all models introduced in 2024 and some unspecified 2023 models—earlier models will not benefit from this extended update cycle. So it’s a step in the right direction, but still (rather) far from perfect.