I'm still an iPhone user, but I'm seeing more situations where Android has the edge for me. For example, I use an Omnipod diabetic pump, which requires an external device to control. (it's not optional; there's no controls on the actual disposable pump) I have to carry around a dumbed down Android device, but certain Android phones are supported via app. iOS support is supposedly finally coming this year, but the time table is uncertain. (Previous insulin pumps had similar issues with app support as well)
High-quality phone cases from brands like UAG and OtterBox, designed to withstand multiple drops and falls, allow users to keep their phones for longer periods without needing to upgrade.
Despite Apple's efforts to continually update the iOS software and consume more memory and CPU resources with minimal user benefits, there seem to be no compelling reasons for me to upgrade from the iPhone 12 at this time
I really don’t understand the “you must buy a new phone every year” crowd.
It hasn’t been the case that year on year hardware improvement remotely warranted upgrading - for iPhones or android for almost a decade. You get the majority of new OS features for 4 or 5 years before new features start needing new hardware support.
I upgraded to a 13 after having a 10 forever. Magsafe (introduced with 12) is a nice feature, though I guess it can be jury rigged into older iPhones via a case? And Apple key is nice, although that was more of an Apple Watch upgrade. Unless they make some break through with on-phone low latency conversational AI (or something similar), I can't see myself finding a reason to upgrade.
I get the feeling that people with cheap Android phones might upgrade more often, but I have no evidence to back that up.
Main reason to upgrade is significantly better camera and the satellite connectivity. If you don’t care about those, it doesn’t matter that much. I will say that I like the 15 a lot, it is a good “final version” of the product with balanced hardware that doesn’t feel like a transition, one of which they produce every few years. Some models don’t feel like a final form, more like half-baked intermediate versions.
Will replace it in 3-4 years per usual, assuming the hardware materially improves.
> allow users to keep their phones for longer periods without needing to upgrade
Except they're talking about smartphone sales being up in general.
This is all about China trying to distance itself from Apple (and Apple on their hand trying to distance themselves from China but eat their cake as well)
I've been an iPhone user since the OG in 2007, with a stint of Lumias (RIP) in the early 2010s. I'm currently on an aging 11. I've always been somewhat miffed at iPhones because they've never once cared about whatever consumer segment I fall into. Every year like clockwork it's "better camera". That's it. Whatever other innovations they do under the hood, the only overt thing they advertise or care about it is better camera. Sure, its nice I guess, but I'm not a big taker of pictures. After the iPhone 8, photo quality got basically good enough for me that everything after has been a barely noticeable upgrade. I'm sure teenagers, TikTokers, and amateur photographers really care, but boy howdy, I do not.
I'll be upgrading to the 16 come September, because my phone is kind of falling apart at this point, but it will done wholly without excitement.
I really just want hardware buttons so I can use the music controls by touch, without taking my phone out of pocket. I really just want the clickwheel iPod back.
Apple has other aspects that appeal to me. By and large, I like the OS, and by and large, I don't like any of the Android variants. This is what keeps me on the platform. But the unexciting upgrades is what keeps me from upgrading.
Does this really solve any of my problems though? I’m not especially price conscious on phones, I’m just unexcited and feel somewhat underserved. Besides the physical home button, my primary wish for music controls goes unanswered by the SE. Plus I find it’s a little small for my hands. I’d absolutely get it if it was obviously better in some way than a Max model or whatever, but is it?
I don't think it's better (unless you prefer smaller phones, which is the case for me), but it's also not worse, and around 50% cheaper. Unless you're a multimillionaire, that should be a factor.
Chinese Android phone manufacturers have done much better localization than the iPhone (such as workday alarm clocks and multi-windows) and are cheaper. As MediaTek or Qualcomm chip performance gradually catches up with the iPhone, and the iPhone lacks power in innovation, it will only get worse. The more people choose Android
My speculation: I think this explains why Apple has been engaging in malicious compliance with the EU DMA and why they will fight obvious allegations about their behavior in the US. They don't really have a product that is so much better that it can actually earn the profits that it does. If you strip away the anti competitive things Apple does like the lack of interoperability in iMessage or the 30% app store tax or whatever, they'll make a lot less money. They HAVE to do those things to keep up the charade and keep their market cap where it is. And that's why they are willing to take a massive risk in actually fighting the EU's requirements.
More like a ~300 Euro mid-range Android Phone already does 99% of what most people need: messaging, taking photos, web browsing, run all the popular apps, etc. and now are starting to have decent SoC performance, decent camera processing, longer SW support and high refresh OLED displays to boot.
So if you strip away the artificially gate-kept services like iMessage, why should anyone who isn't tied in the Apple ecosystem spend a lot more on an iPhone?
Sure, but I was talking from the perspective of someone who's budget is closer to a Focus than a BMW.
If you can't afford a BMW, a Focus will stil get you from A to B just as fast considering legal speed limits, so then the BMW is no longer a necessity for those who need a car but more of a "want".
Totally, each will get you from A to B, but there is a reason most people don't buy a Ford Focus. Phones are the same, the response was asking why people buy Apple, I was just explaining there are loads of human reasons why people go for the premium option.
Well, when you read about German carmakers (BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Porsche, ...) they have very similar challenges than Apple. They also have declining sales.
And their behavior and situation is very similar to Apple:
- You have in many places reputation based lock-in into high-price products
- You have a competition which for a lower price offers a same functionality, reasonable quality product.
- There are unreasonable argumentation on why to stay on the high-reputation product.
- You have a vendor who uses every possible trick to keep competition away from their markets
- They have post covid, post inflation no longer customers who can afford their products
- ...
>If you strip away the artificially gate kept services like iMessage, why should anyone spend a lot more on an iPhone?
I think your qualification of Apple-ecosystem-services is a big part.
There are stories of statistics that say more people switch from Android to iPhone than vice-versa[1] and the big reasons I see are ecosystem related:
+ Apple Facetime calls. If some family & friends are using Facetime, it has a gravitational pull to get you to buy an iOS device so you're not missing out on the conversations
+ Apple "Find My" to keep track of family members. When this feature first came out, the Android ecosystem didn't have an equivalent without downloading an extra app.
+ Apple Watch integration. The Android watches from Garmin/Samsung/Fitbit are not as seamlessly integrated as Apple.
The areas where iPhone is worse than Android such as voice assistants Apple Siri vs Google Assistant, or cloud photos A.I. tools, or no sideloading vs sideloading, etc -- are not deal-breakers for most mainstream Apple consumers.
In most other places than the US there is no lock-in by iMessage. Everyone uses WhatsApp (or country specific alternatives). Family tracking is available on Google Maps since so long. Apple Watch as a market is not relevant enough.
So ignoring the US situation of iPhones, in the rest of the world, iPhones are purely reputation based thing ("oh you can afford an iPhone" / "it looks good with my <add your brand> handbag") and a simplicity to use situation (enforced UX etc). In the past the camera was a key differentiator.
And Apple (incl. some Android competition) will have a very hard time with inflation battled countries to maintain a high-cost strategy with a population who cannot afford it anymore.
Yes, but lot of people on the planet don't need, care or want the whole Apple ecosystem, most people just want "A phone" to surf the web, take photos and run basic apps like Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and that's it.
And for that purpose, expensive iPhones and cheap Androids are relatively interchangeable commodity items since they all can run the same apps. Yes, iPhones will have less spy/bloatware, take better pictures, run apps a bit smoother and faster, but not 2-4 times better, and most people won't care or notice unless they compare and review both side by side which almost nobody does, most just impulse buy based on sales price, marketing, brand/platform familiarity or simply just on network effects (if my family or friends have iPhone I'll also get an iPhone).
Apple's biggest cash-cow is the network effect and lock-in of their well oiled ecosystem, but if the EU will force them to open it up to competitors, then their charade could fall apart, hence why they'll fight the EU as long as possible to maintain it.
>So if you strip away the artificially gate-kept services like iMessage, why should anyone who isn't tied in the Apple ecosystem spend a lot more on an iPhone?
No one in Europe cares about iMessage: that's a US-only issue (and Canada). People outside North America don't use SMS texting with their friends and family like Americans do.
If a group is 100% Apple possibly. I'm in several social and family chat groups including New Zealanders and some Australians and all these groups are on WhatsApp/Messenger/Signal to ensure everyone can participate as there is a number of Android users in every group I'm involved in. When I used to have an Apple phone I largely used iMessenger for one to one messages since that was the only sensible use of it.
We kind of still do in Europe, but that is SMS are mostly free even pre-paid packets have lots of them, and there isn't data coverage all over the place, so if we want a guarantee that someone sees a message on time, SMS instead of Whatapps/Viber/.... is preferable.
SMS generally will deliver quicker and with more reliability in low reception scenarios. I've been in places with 1 bar of reception where data barely works so the likes of WhatsApp/Messenger/Signal/etc is hit and miss, whereas SMS just works. On Apple devices iMessage has a fall back availiable to pure SMS. This is less of an issue with modern LTE networks (which performs much better with low signal) but this was quite common in the GSM and UMTS days. Depending on where you go there may still be legacy UMTS/GSM only coverage.
I’m in Europe (Poland). I only miss other people not having iMessage when dealing with recruiters, because a sizable portion of them are from abroad and replying to their texts costs money (roaming laws do not cover it).
Which self respecting recruiters text you on SMS? I've never seen that. They either text me on LinkedIn messenger, direct email or more rarely via WhatsApp but a lot of those seem like scammers.
Apple will never get me back until they release a folding phone. Even then I don't think I'd go back now, I've got my android set up exactly how I want it, with iOS I'd have to make some sort of compromise.
I'd rather get a cheap smart phone and invest in PC components.
I wish I had the strength so many apparently have to have such a small and valuable object always in your pocket. For me, the more expensive it is the more anxiety and worried I would be over losing or breaking it.
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[ 2012 ms ] story [ 211 ms ] threadDespite Apple's efforts to continually update the iOS software and consume more memory and CPU resources with minimal user benefits, there seem to be no compelling reasons for me to upgrade from the iPhone 12 at this time
It hasn’t been the case that year on year hardware improvement remotely warranted upgrading - for iPhones or android for almost a decade. You get the majority of new OS features for 4 or 5 years before new features start needing new hardware support.
I get the feeling that people with cheap Android phones might upgrade more often, but I have no evidence to back that up.
That’s a new one.
Will replace it in 3-4 years per usual, assuming the hardware materially improves.
Except they're talking about smartphone sales being up in general.
This is all about China trying to distance itself from Apple (and Apple on their hand trying to distance themselves from China but eat their cake as well)
I'll be upgrading to the 16 come September, because my phone is kind of falling apart at this point, but it will done wholly without excitement.
I really just want hardware buttons so I can use the music controls by touch, without taking my phone out of pocket. I really just want the clickwheel iPod back.
If "good enough" is fine, just get a budget or midrange phone.
So if you strip away the artificially gate-kept services like iMessage, why should anyone who isn't tied in the Apple ecosystem spend a lot more on an iPhone?
If you can't afford a BMW, a Focus will stil get you from A to B just as fast considering legal speed limits, so then the BMW is no longer a necessity for those who need a car but more of a "want".
And their behavior and situation is very similar to Apple:
- You have in many places reputation based lock-in into high-price products - You have a competition which for a lower price offers a same functionality, reasonable quality product. - There are unreasonable argumentation on why to stay on the high-reputation product. - You have a vendor who uses every possible trick to keep competition away from their markets - They have post covid, post inflation no longer customers who can afford their products - ...
I think your qualification of Apple-ecosystem-services is a big part.
There are stories of statistics that say more people switch from Android to iPhone than vice-versa[1] and the big reasons I see are ecosystem related:
+ Apple Facetime calls. If some family & friends are using Facetime, it has a gravitational pull to get you to buy an iOS device so you're not missing out on the conversations
+ Apple "Find My" to keep track of family members. When this feature first came out, the Android ecosystem didn't have an equivalent without downloading an extra app.
+ Apple Watch integration. The Android watches from Garmin/Samsung/Fitbit are not as seamlessly integrated as Apple.
The areas where iPhone is worse than Android such as voice assistants Apple Siri vs Google Assistant, or cloud photos A.I. tools, or no sideloading vs sideloading, etc -- are not deal-breakers for most mainstream Apple consumers.
[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=more+people+switch+from+andr...
So ignoring the US situation of iPhones, in the rest of the world, iPhones are purely reputation based thing ("oh you can afford an iPhone" / "it looks good with my <add your brand> handbag") and a simplicity to use situation (enforced UX etc). In the past the camera was a key differentiator.
And Apple (incl. some Android competition) will have a very hard time with inflation battled countries to maintain a high-cost strategy with a population who cannot afford it anymore.
And for that purpose, expensive iPhones and cheap Androids are relatively interchangeable commodity items since they all can run the same apps. Yes, iPhones will have less spy/bloatware, take better pictures, run apps a bit smoother and faster, but not 2-4 times better, and most people won't care or notice unless they compare and review both side by side which almost nobody does, most just impulse buy based on sales price, marketing, brand/platform familiarity or simply just on network effects (if my family or friends have iPhone I'll also get an iPhone).
Apple's biggest cash-cow is the network effect and lock-in of their well oiled ecosystem, but if the EU will force them to open it up to competitors, then their charade could fall apart, hence why they'll fight the EU as long as possible to maintain it.
No one in Europe cares about iMessage: that's a US-only issue (and Canada). People outside North America don't use SMS texting with their friends and family like Americans do.
> so if we want a guarantee that someone sees a message on time, SMS instead of Whatapps/Viber/.... is preferable.
Do you understand what this works only with 2G, 3G networks? A proper 4G is data-only one, so the SMS there are emulated over a data link.
I wish I had the strength so many apparently have to have such a small and valuable object always in your pocket. For me, the more expensive it is the more anxiety and worried I would be over losing or breaking it.
Peace of mind is priceless.