Asus has posted in the user forum in January that Zenfone Max Plus M1 will get an upgrade to Adroid 9 Pie. That info came only months after the upgrade to Android 8.1 Oreo, which was a very unsuccessful upgrade.
Android 9 officially coming to ZenFone Max Plus M1
On February 26th, 2019, Asus finally officially announced in the ZenTalk forum the “Android 9.0 (Pie) upgrade plan for ASUS ZenFone“. The good new is that the Asus ZenFone Max Plus M1 is included on the list of phones that will get an upgrade.However, the model of the phone is named “ZenFone Max Plus (M1) Clear Soft Bumper (ZB570TL)”. The name of the phone is correct, the model name is correct, but I have never seen a reference to a “Clear Soft Bumper” before. Might it be an internal name or are there different versions of the phone out there? We’ll have to wait for the answer to this one.
The bad news is… Well, there are two pieces of bad news.
There is no fixed dates yet
First part of bad news, that is somehow expected, is that there is no estimated time frame when the update should reach the users. The post only lists the models, but there is no info on when it would happen. This is nothing unusual, but the second part of bad news might be…
Upgrade plan was deleted
If you open the above link to the official announcement you will discover that it doesn’t exist anymore. Yes, the post listing all the models that will get upgrade to Android Pie and quoted so many times by news outlets, was deleted. When I open the link to the official announcement, I get this notice:
Specific thread does not exist or is under moderation, please return.
[ ASUS ZenTalk Forum Index ]
Maybe the post was deleted or maybe it is just moderated in a way that will include dates when we should expect the upgrades?
What does it mean?
Probably not much. Asus is working on the upgrades and at one point the prospects were good, but maybe they have learned that by promising too much and breaking those promises they don’t do any good to the brand.
Official announcement
For reference, I have copied the now deleted official announcement here so it can be read even if it is now gone. I’m pasting it here so that unfortunate Max Plus M1 owners can read the (canceled?) upgrade plans for their phones and stay in the loop.
[ZenFone] Android 9.0 (Pie) upgrade plan for ASUS ZenFone
The following ASUS ZenFone models would be planned upgrade to Android 9.0 Pie at 2019.
- ZenFone 4 Max (ZC554KL)
- ZenFone 4 Selfie (ZD553KL)
- ZenFone 4 Max (ZC520KL)
- ZenFone Live (ZB553KL)
- ZenFone4 Max (ZB520KL)
- ZenFone Max Plus (M1) Clear Soft Bumper (ZB570TL)
- ZenFone 5Q (ZC600KL)
- ZenFone Live (L1) Clear Soft Bumper (ZA550KZ / ZA551KL)
- ZenFone Max Pro (ZB602KL)
- ZenFone Max Pro (ZB601KL)
- ZenFone Max (M1) Clear Soft Bumper (ZB555KL / ZB556KL)
- ZenFone 5 (ZE620KL)
- ZenFone 5Z (ZS620KL)
- ASUS ROG Phone (ZS600KL)
- ZenFone Max Pro (M2) Clear Soft Bumper (ZB631KL/ ZB630KL)
- ZenFone Max (M2) Clear Soft Bumper (ZB633KL / ZB632KL)
Current released update OS version and models:
Product Name Model ZenFone 4 Max ZC554KL ZenFone 4 Selfie ZD553KL ZenFone 4 Max ZC520KL ZenFone Live ZB553KL ZenFone4 Max ZB520KL ZenFone Max Plus (M1) Clear Soft Bumper ZB570TL ZenFone 5Q ZC600KL ZenFone Live (L1) Clear Soft Bumper ZA550KZ / ZA551KL ZenFone Max Pro(M1) ZB602KL / ZB601KL ZenFone Max (M1) Clear Soft Bumper ZB555KL / ZB556KL ZenFone 5 ZE620KL ZenFone 5Z ZS620KL ASUS ROG Phone ZS600KL ZenFone Max Pro (M2) Clear Soft Bumper ZB631KL/ ZB630KL ZenFone Max (M2) Clear Soft Bumper ZB633KL / ZB632KL