Some Pixel 3 users will soon receive a cumulative January and December security update

What you need to know

• Google will soon begin rolling out a joint January and December security update for the Pixel 3 and 3 XL.
• While most Pixel phones started receiving the December security update three weeks back, several Pixel 3 and 3 XL owners did not receive it.
• The joint December and January security update is expected to be released next Monday.

Google began rolling out the December security update for the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL phones a week after other Pixel phones last month. In addition to the December security update, it also brought a few other improvements to the latest Pixel phones.

Many Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL units, however, are yet to receive the December update. Responding to the concerns of several Pixel 3 and 3 XL owners on Twitter, Google has now revealed that it plans to roll out a "joint January and December security update" for the two phones in the coming days.

Since Google usually rolls out the latest security updates for Pixel phones on the first Monday of the month, the joint update is likely to hit the Pixel 3 and 3 XL on January 6. The other Pixel phones, including the Pixel 4 and 4 XL, are also expected to get the latest January security update starting next Monday.

Unfortunately, Google hasn't revealed the exact reason why the December security update was delayed for the Pixel 3 series phones. Google usually releases new security updates for Pixel phones in the first week every month. For the last three months, however, Samsung has actually managed to beat Google to the punch with security updates. While Google hasn't started pushing the January security patch to Pixels yet, a few Samsung Galaxy smartphones have received it already.