[Galaxy Note 3 General] IvanCristina:
DON'T BELIEVE TO WEBSITES' ARTICLES TALKING ABOUT MARSHMALLOW UPDATE! THEY JUST SPAM FOR EARN WITH ADS! BELIEVE JUST IN SAMMOBILE.COM!

I’m creating this thread because all the request's threads of updates for Note 3.

First of all, I didn't want to disappoint your expectations or being rude, but what I will say is absolutely SURE, so please, do NOT create any other thread asking about the situation. What you read in this post is the final situation. If there will - strangely - be any update, I will edit the post. Until the arrive of news, take it as real (so as it is).

1st, the Note 3, both Snapdragon and Exynos, will NEVER get any major update! Samsung concluded his 18 months of updates and unfortunately we have to deal with it. Yeah, pretty as***le, considering that the $800 (at day one) Note 3 received just 2 major updates, moreover all the others Note got a lot more updates.

2nd, The SD version is more update because Qualcomm always releases its sources, so everything is easier for devs. Moreover the Snapdragon is heavily more used than Exynos (I mean by other manufacturers, like OnePlus, LG, ASUS and so on and so on), so even the portings are easier.

Samsung keep for herself a lot of sources, like bootloaders. And for this sh*t, the Note 4 and the Tab S LTE (I’m not sure about this one) are 64bit devices running 32bit ROMs. And as far as Samsung keep bootloaders closed source or do not update them with x64 capability, they are stuck on 32bit OS, and they couldn’t use all the power they could have.

3rd, the only way for getting TouchWiz Marshmallow are portings. The user [MENTION=3519950]artas182x[/MENTION] made a perfect work, porting the official MM firmware from the International S5. It could seem easy, but he ported a ROM from a SD801 to a SD800 device, which yes, is not that different, but it’s still another SOC. The ROM is lightning fast and super battery-friendly, even more if combined with the amazing lsskernel by [MENTION=4490057]lss1977[/MENTION], who developed a fantastic - and most important, open source - kernel (based on the equally fantastic idle kernel, unfortunately it seems not be developed anymore by [MENTION=1064710]jccad[/MENTION]duono). An even more difficult project was accomplished by [MENTION=4696762]darkera13[/MENTION], who ported the Note 4, the S6, the Note 5 (the best imho), the S7 Edge and even the recent Note 7 firmwares, all of them based on their own ORIGINAL firmware. If it wasn’t for him, maybe we could just dream any TW 5.1.1 and probably TW 6.0.1 too. So yes, maybe this device didn’t get the best support from aunt Sammy, but it received one of the best support from xda devs, and let me say it, WHICH SUPPORT!

4th - we’re almost at the end - maybe the unlucky Exynos users could whish about it, because the Galaxy Tab S just RECEIVED the MM update, and as far as they use the same SOC, the Exynos 5420, and same quantitative of RAM (which is not the real deal, by-the-way), who knows, maybe a developer will get out from the nowhere with an Exynos MM TW ROM… Just matter of what Samsung (and devs) will do.

5th, there is a well alternative, AOSP and CYANOGENMOD! As far as they are opensource, you don’t have to worry that your device will not be supported, at least you will not in a long time, cause the still great hardware of Note serie. Great devs like Janson Kang, or [MENTION=2332422]temasek[/MENTION] if you want, or like [MENTION=2694538]mon@diac[/MENTION], support our devices, and they release their sources, so if you want, you can build your own ROM, maybe do not publish it and keep it for yourself, as I do, but you are on YOUR ROM, which is great!

6th, I’m ABSOLUTELY NOT here for discourage you to buy back a Samsung device, but I recommend you to do not do so for an Exynos model. Ok, Exynos are usually more optimized than Snapdragon on Stock, but they don’t get the same “attentions” from devs as SD model do. Or at least, buy the International variant, even from Amazon or Swappa or so. They usually receive the highest support, which is translated to MORE ROMS!

In conclusion,

do NOT expect any stock MM update;

keep your SD variant, because it’s still well supported with amazing unofficial ROMs;

if you are on Exynos, your support could not be over, so do not close your Note in the drawer!

Best wishes, Ivan

EDIT: Since the user [MENTION=5747674]edmundo096[/MENTION] received an OTA update on his canadian Note 3 titled as "OS update - Android 6.0 Marshmallow", we are managing to verify if it is just an error or a real update checking the sdk. the thread will be updated as far as we get news!

EDIT 2: Sadly (and obviously) the update was just a Lollipop OTA. From the build.prop we saw the idk was 21 (5.0.x) and that the Android Version was 5.0 (so it wasn't even a build.prop error, it means the articles on the web talking about MM update are clearly fake). Not sure if Screenshots by [MENTION=5747674]edmundo096[/MENTION] were fake or just an error, but in conclusion: false alarm, no MM update