VAULT Should I buy 8 Pro now or hold out for the Pixel 12 that's due in 2027?
I'm not sure the Pixel 12 will be the best tactical move. After all, it will still be cellular, while the Pixel 13 will communicate via quantum entanglement instead. Sure, QE will be a little slower than 7G cellular, but it will be much harder to tap, and I think most GrapheneOS users will want to prioritize privacy over higher-def YouTube streaming.
To be serious... MTE does sound like a genuine advance. But it may well take months for the software to successfully deploy the new capability offered by the hardware, and in those months the price of a Pixel 8 seems more likely to go down than to go up.
So my personal advice would be to encourage people with a 4a, 4a5g, or 5 to move quickly to a 6/7/8 based on personal factors such as threat model, price sensitivity, carrier support, etc. I expect that people more concerned about exploits will probably be buying genuine extra protection by plunking down the additional money for an 8. People with a 4a, 4a5g, or 5 who are more concerned about price and/or widespread carrier support might well pick a 6-series or a 7-series.
I would recommend against 5a's except for people who want to test the waters with a second device, or who want a second device for development purposes. Given the current situation with backups, I would recommend against moving one's life onto a 5a as a primary device, even though they're pretty cheap and will likely get cheaper pretty fast.
But that's just me! And I don't speak for the GrapheneOS project.