Roku's first streaming player with 4K support, Roku 4, received a little over seven years of support. Roku 4 will continue to work but no longer receive software updates.

How long can you expect a manufacturer to update the operating system in your TV devices? Some Smart TVs from major brands are stuck on the TV OS generation that they came with, which is one of the reasons why we like to recommend external media players.

Amazon, Apple, Google, Roku and Nvidia all update the software in their devices but there are differences and caveats. For example, Amazon's FireOS runs Android underneath and remains stuck on an old version.

The Roku 4 media player was Roku's first with 4K and it was launched in October 2015. Roku OS 11.5 is the last version that will be supported on Roku 4, meaning that it has received a little over seven years of updates and support. The company replaced it with the Roku Ultra in 2017.

The first Apple TV 4K was launched in September 2017 and the first Nvidia Shield in May 2015. These two are still receiving OS updates.

Some Roku owners are offered a 40% discount on a new 4K-capable Roku devices while other owners are offered a 20% discount. Other users say that there was no upgrade offer in the email that they received.

Here is Roku's email to owners:

Dear Roku Streamer,

Thanks for being such a loyal Roku user! You’ve been streaming with us for a long time and we’re glad you’ve been enjoying your Roku player even after all these years. While your current player will continue to stream and receive critical updates, it doesn’t have the latest capabilities and will soon stop receiving feature updates.

You can keep using your Roku player to stream the channels you currently have. However, this device will no longer get new features or streaming channels, updates to existing channels, or other software-related updates. You may lose access to some channels over time as those channel partners make updates.
- Source: Cord Cutters News