🎯 In 30 seconds: Most updates close security holes that criminals already know about. Turn on automatic updates for every device and app, restart when asked, and find out when each device stops getting fixes. A device past its end of support isn’t broken, but every new hole found in it stays open forever, so plan to retire it from banking.
What an update actually does
Software has mistakes. When a company learns of one that lets an outsider in, it ships a fix. The moment that fix is public, criminals can study it to see exactly what was wrong, and then look for people who haven’t installed it. That is why waiting a few weeks is riskier than it sounds. CISA, the federal cybersecurity agency, puts it plainly: turn on automatic updates, and don’t keep choosing “remind me later.”
Turn on automatic updates everywhere
| Device or app | Where to look | Your job |
|---|---|---|
| Windows PC | Settings, Windows Update | Let it install, then restart within a day or two. |
| Mac | System Settings, General, Software Update, Automatic Updates | Turn on security responses and system files. |
| iPhone and iPad | Settings, General, Software Update, Automatic Updates | Keep it plugged in overnight now and then so updates finish. |
| Android | Settings, System or Security, updates (names vary by maker) | Check monthly; some makers are slower than others. |
| Browsers | Usually automatic | Close and reopen the browser so the update applies. |
| Apps | App Store or Google Play settings | Turn on auto-update; delete apps you don’t use. |
| Router, cameras, smart TV | The maker’s app or admin page | See the home Wi-Fi page in the Security section. |
End of support, device by device
Windows 10. Microsoft ended regular support on October 14, 2025. Home users can join the consumer Extended Security Updates program, which Microsoft’s page says now runs until October 12, 2027. Enrolling is free if you sync your PC settings to a Microsoft account, or costs 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points or a one-time $30. It covers security fixes only, and after that date the fixes stop. Microsoft’s free PC Health Check app tells you whether a PC can move to Windows 11.
iPhone. Apple doesn’t publish end dates. As of late 2026, iOS 26 runs on the iPhone 11 and newer. Apple has kept shipping some security fixes to the version before for phones that can’t upgrade, but no promise covers how long. If your phone can’t install the current version, treat it as on borrowed time.
Google Pixel. Google says the Pixel 8 and later get 7 years of OS and security updates, counted from when each model first went on sale in the US Google Store. Older Pixels got 5 years or less. Other Android makers publish their own policies; search the model name plus “security update policy.”
A worked example: the household device check
The Okafor family lists everything that touches a bank or email account, with the year bought and support status:
| Device | Bought | Status in October 2026 | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laptop A, Windows 11 | 2022 | Supported | Keep |
| Laptop B, Windows 10, fails the Windows 11 check | 2017 | Only covered through consumer ESU | Enroll now; replace before October 2027 |
| iPhone 11 | 2019 | Runs iOS 26 | Keep, watch next year’s list |
| Android tablet | 2018 | No updates since 2022 | Stop using it for banking now |
Replacing Laptop B with a $600 machine by September 2027 means saving about $55 a month for 11 months ($600 ÷ 11 = $54.55). The tablet stays for videos and games but gets signed out of email, banking and the password manager today. Cost: $0.
If you keep an old device
- Take the money off it: sign out of banking, brokerage, email and the password manager.
- Use a current browser as long as one still installs; browsers often outlast the system for a while.
- Move it to the guest Wi-Fi network so it is cut off from the computers you bank on.
- Before you sell or recycle it, back it up, sign out of every account, and use the factory reset (erase all content) option.
- Why is waiting weeks to update risky? Answer: Once a fix is public, criminals study it and target people who haven’t installed it.
- Until when do consumer Extended Security Updates for Windows 10 run, per Microsoft’s page? Answer: October 12, 2027.
- A web page says your browser is out of date and offers a download. What do you do? Answer: Close it and update from the browser’s or device’s own settings.
- What should come off a device that no longer gets updates? Answer: Banking, brokerage, email and password manager sign-ins.