In 2020, Samsung stopped providing security upgrades for the phone, despite the hardware functioning flawlessly. “I just wish there was a way to make this outdated piece of technology last longer.”
“I really thought the lack of [security] updates was pretty dumb,” Mr. Mirza, who purchased the phone in 2016, adds.
“Your screen and batteries are still operating flawlessly. You have the impression that the manufacturer is pressuring you to upgrade.
He managed his online banking, including that of his production company, using his phone. “Having the most recent critical software updates was crucial for me,” he said.
Upgrading your phone has environmental costs in addition to financial ones. The production of mobile phones is responsible for about 80% of their carbon emissions. We call this embodied or embedded carbon.
Therefore, the longer customers can maintain their phones running the most recent software, the better from an emissions perspective.
Mr. Mirza may have found the solution he sought in an operating system known as /e/OS. It is a free version of Android that prolongs the life of devices that are no longer receiving updates and offers a potentially more environmentally friendly option than the software produced by the manufacturers.
