One UI 8 permanently removes the option to unlock the bootloader on all devices and this is very likely just the first step towards an accentuated enshittification of the devices.
With the One UI 8 (Android 16) update for Samsung telephonesscreens, it is
no longer possible to install OSes ("custom ROMs") not signed by Samsung. Upon
installation, UI 8 tivoises
the device and there's no way to restore. Samsung changed this silently without
a press release or something, but there are many sources confirming it:
This is a major injustice to users: offering a general-purpose computer but locking it down for profit. The USA models already had this for a few years, but I thought it is a part of the mobile network operator deals. Turns out I was wrong and it is simply because Samsung want to provide worse devices without a way to escape, it is just like the totalitarian states built highly fortified borders in order to prevent people from escaping so they can do anything they want. The difference is that there is an escape here, it is not buying Samsung and possibly refusing to update your existing one to UI 8.
Today you can no longer install an alternative OS on your phone, tomorrow that might mean Termux is illegal, or that EU Chat Control is enforced at the OS level with an AI keylogger, or that sideloading is disabled, or that the phone takes screenshots every 5 minutes. This practice — selling a general-purpose computer only to prevent users from running what they want on it — ought to be illegal.