6 ms·

Are there any "real" (come on, techy people, you know what I mean) reasons for going Apple besides I suppose the genuine convenience of fully interoperable phon

by jrm4 4y ago

Are there any "real" (come on, techy people, you know what I mean) reasons for going Apple besides I suppose the genuine convenience of fully interoperable phone/messaging across devices (which I fully concede is probably a big one for a good number of people?) The price differences between Android and Apple still strike me as absurd. On the other side, I went from "picking an Android very carefully for rooting" gradually to "what's on sale at Best Buy for about 150" with no major shift in experience or quality.

robin_reala 4y ago
iPhone Mini: you basically can’t get an Android phone with reasonable specs and a reasonable size.
- ip26 4y ago
  Yes, this is exactly what drove me to switch.
bananamerica 4y ago
iPhones are durable and are supported for longer times. Some people prefer spending more upfront for a product that will last longer. iOS is not a bad OS, and some might say that is more idiot proof than Android.
- LtWorf 4y ago
  no f-droid on iphone… Which means 0 chance of getting apps with no tracking.
helloooooooo 4y ago
I switched from Android to iPhone. I was tired of my Android phones (Samsung Galaxy’s) only receiving updates for ~2 years. On top of that, I found that there was a lot of “jank” when using some apps. They would crash, fail to load, slow down etc… I attribute that mostly due to the Java based code. I also hated having both Google and Samsung trying to bait me into their “ecosystems”. They also have both the device OEM and Google prying their big data vacuums into the devices. My iPhone on the other hand, I am still on my first one, and it is 4 years old and still gets updates. And judging by history, it should still get updates for at least another 2-3 years. Apps don’t crash. The battery is just starting to go on it, but a replacement isn’t very expensive. And the entire Apple “ecosystem” is optional here. Apple is just starting to spin up an ad ecosystem, but the privacy features of the device are quite unparalleled (although I wish I were able to install an on device ad blocker that actually works)
- herbst 4y ago
  To be fair Samsung is pushing the worst possible android experience consistently since they make phones. Their android flavor is nothing like stock android, buggy and gets barely updated. The phones to expensive for the actual build quality. Samsung is just the most ugly side of Android. A pixel or even a Xiaomi that ship with stock and allow removing unwanted apps without hacks is not even compareable.
  - jrm4 4y ago
    Hijack my own thread for curiosity. Can Americans get Xiaomi or similar Chinese brands? I've always been curious to try one because I feel like I could hack my way around stuff but life/family keeping busy stuff...
    - herbst 4y ago
      No American but you can just order them from China directly they sell EU and US versions on AliExpress. I can only recommend Xiaomi, cheap, very good build quality and you don't need to hack or root anything and still have full control over your phone. I've had a cheap Oppo before and it drowned, fell and more and still goes strong 8+ years later.
- spaghettiToy 4y ago
  Avoid Samsung on every single product line they have.
poink 4y ago
In isolation, I don't think there's much reason to buy an iPhone right now. I have an iPhone 12 Pro and a Pixel 6a and they're interchangeable as far as I'm concerned. I also have a Mac, AirPods, and an Apple Watch, though. That makes it kind of a no-brainer which phone I carry around with me.
- colinmhayes 4y ago
  Access to iMessage so that I can text people in less than 10 seconds is the only reason most people need to get an iphone. Apple's incentives with regards to privacy are also much betters than Googles. Neither are great, but apples strategy revolves around selling marked up hardware, while Googles is 100% about getting people to use google products so that they can be served ads.
askonomm 4y ago
Price difference? iPhone SE is $429, iPhone 11 is $499, iPhone 12 $599, iPhone 13 $699. I feel like people who still are stuck at Apple pricing, have really no idea about Apple pricing. Sure, if you want the maxed out best iPhone, it'll be around 1 thousand USD, but so will be maxed out best Android.
- buttersbrian 4y ago
  But you're talking old phones in the 499 range. You can get new phones in that range in the android ecosystem. Many people inherently don't want last years model, or the model from 3 years ago. Apple just isn't as competitive for new devices.
  - ascagnel_ 4y ago
    The full range of the current phones Apple sells today (2022 iPhone SE on the low end through the iPhone 13 Pro Max on the high end) both use the same chipset: the A15 "bionic". As you go up the scale, you're paying more for hardware features (better camera sensor, front depth sensor for face scanning, etc.). This will probably change pretty soon, only because the higher-end phones tend to be refreshed in the fall and the low-end phone was announced and then refreshed in the spring. Obviously, you can save some money by buying an older phone with better hardware features, but the same applies to Android -- this year's "mushy middle" of pricing is occupied with last year's flagship model.
- jrm4 4y ago
  Again, as I've said above. 150. I have chosen the price point of 150. Whatever's on sale at Best Buy for that. Maybe Costco. I am around Apple people. With the exception of that cross device thing which I concede can be a big deal for some, I have not dealt with or seen any significant differences between their experience and mine.
SNlMyhFioa 4y ago
I do not want to spend my free, leisure time tweaking personal devices beyond a few configuration options. I'm happy to pay for convenience. I write code and setup cloud infrastructure for a living.
- jrm4 4y ago
  Fair, but I, on Android don't do that either? Like I said, I used to play around with rooting and stuff, but in the past 5+ years or so (especially with work AND kids et al) it's been "Pop into Best Buy, watcha got for 150, login with Google, done."
vachina 4y ago
laumars 4y ago
No. But there’s also no “real” reasons to buy Android instead either. It’s literally just a matter of personal preference
coldpie 4y ago
There are zero Android phones that are usable one-handed. Apple makes two such models. I strongly prefer Android as an operating system, but if I can't physically use the phone, it's useless to me. So I'm on iPhone.
- rascul 4y ago
  I've always used my Android phones one-handed. So, certainly not zero.
  - coldpie 4y ago
    How do you reach the far corner of the screen?
- orcy 4y ago
  I actually found some, but this is Japanese models. The one I have got is Sharp Aquos R2 compact.
makeitdouble 4y ago
Not having to care about anything is a real advantage. If you have absolutely no interest in phones, the base iPhone will be a better device than any android of the same price in terms of stability (years of use) and support (you'll hit not mobile website that doesn't handle it, any major app provider will support it) android has advantages only if you actually have specific aspects you want to optimize (price, performance, photo, obscure tools, versatility etc..)
overgrownzygote 4y ago
Having the Apple Store support option is another one. Yes, repairs can be a bit expensive, but most of them can be done same-day instead of having to ship my phone off for a week+ to get repairs. This depends on where you’re located though — in some places it’s much easier to get quick OEM repairs for (some) Android devices than for Apple ones. The A-series chips are also genuinely very good, but one could argue that a lot of that power is wasted on iOS. Anecdotally, I’ve also found battery life on iPhones to be more reliable out of the box than on most Android devices, especially in standby.
- jrm4 4y ago
  Right. But I feel like "just get another one for 150" is a comparable solution.
ethanbond 4y ago
> I went from "picking an Android very carefully for rooting" gradually to "what's on sale at Best Buy for about 150" with no major shift in experience or quality. Well a lot of people can very clearly tell the difference between a middle of the pack iPhone and a $150 Android device. That you experienced no such variation among the Android lineup is why people prefer Apple. It "feels like" a premium product, is priced like a premium product, and is perceived as a premium product because... you guessed it: it's a premium product!
- jrm4 4y ago
  You literally just gave no reasons. Edit: So to clarify, you could be saying "there is something better about Apple" or "Apple people are complete suckers." Which is it?
  - ethanbond 4y ago
    I'm saying that creating a premium product cannot be distilled down to one feature/dimension/characteristic and it's a fruitless task to just ask people on the internet to do it for you. 1) Many people can't specifically identify and articulate which characteristics lead them to prefer one product over another. 2) Many people have different reasons for preferring the same product over the same alternative 3) An individual is probably preferring a set of characteristics that overdetermines their preference (i.e. if you remove one of the set, their preference still doesn't change) and the set is comprised of individually not-very-important characteristics. Would you be confused if someone said that they prefer a Porsche Panamera over a Honda Civic? They could probably say they prefer the size of the Panamera, but that's clearly not sufficient explanation because they also would prefer it over a CR-V. Then they'd say the materials used are better. But would they now accept a CR-V with the interior redone in ultra-premium materials? Very unlikely. The reality is that their preference is a complex mixture of things that they struggle to even detect never mind articulate. "Good product companies" get this, and bad product companies just stare in befuddlement at why their CR-V with fancy leather isn't outcompeting Porsche. Of course when you ask someone to explain their preference, they cannot. They don't have the language to describe it! It's a silly question to even ask!
wartijn_ 4y ago
1) Not being locked in into the Google ecosystem and being tracked by that company. You need to be logged in into your Google account for the play store, which means you're looped in to Gmail and Google calendar. In iOS I can choose to use different providers for email, calendar, and password management or remove the apps (for the first two). 2) Long support which makes the price really reasonable. I've been using an iPhone 8 for a couple of years now, and still have the latest iOS version and the phone works good enough. If I would have bought an Android phone when I bought my iPhone I would have needed to replace it already, because of lack of updates.
- herbst 4y ago
  You need an apple account to use their store or? You can also use a different Google account (or account generally) for every app, on non botched stock android at least. You can also remove all apps with stock android, also Google apps. Samsung really skewed the view by shipping the worst possible android. My Google account for my phone is just for that nothing else. My last phone cost $120 and lasted 6 years, it still works but doesn't run my banking app anymore. my current one was $250 and last for 2 years without issues already.
  - wartijn_ 4y ago
    I do have an Apple account myself, but apparently you don't need one[0] And I checked on my old Android phone, an Nokia 6.1, which is supposed to have stock Android, and I can't delete these apps: calendar, drive, lens, gmail, chrome, files, photos. [0] https://www.macworld.com/article/673831/how-to-use-an-iphone-without-an-apple-id.html https://www.macworld.com/article/673831/how-to-use-an-iphone...
    - herbst 4y ago
      I am no specialist, just someone who avoided plenty of brands. My theorie is that they lock down some stock apps so it doesn't look so fishy when Facebook and co is locked too to get good ad deals. Every phone I owned in the last 10 years allowed full control about apps without root. That's a nexus, a cheap Oppo and now a Xiaomi. Edit:// I thought you need an account to activate the iphone? Not sure if I am totally wrong
AbrahamParangi 4y ago
In my opinion the UX on Android is inferior. It’s not about as good, it’s worse. There are just a million kinda shitty decisions embedded in the interface that aren’t quite right. For me Android is like an off-brand cola. It gets the job done. It’s sugar water, just like coke. But there are a million little decisions that make Coke a better product.
- readams 4y ago
  For me iPhone UX is confusing and inconvenient. There are a million shitty decisions embedded in the interface.
  - iconosynclast 4y ago
    going from one to the other will always be confusing but as a long time android user I have to say UX has really been going downhill quite a bit. the same could be true for ios but I wouldn't know and neither would other android users so from that perspective a switch might seem like a reasonable idea
parsimo2010 4y ago
For general consumers, the Apple ecosystem beyond just messaging is a legitimate reason. It’s not just messaging, it’s handoff of your browser from your phone to your tablet to your laptop so you can easily keep reading a website even if you swap devices. It’s Apple Pay. It’s Apple Music. Sure, there are Android apps for all of those things, but you have to spend time picking each app and setting it up. Starting a new Apple product is an entirely different experience. It’s decent hardware and a consistent experience- sure, there have been misses, and sometimes there are non-Apple products that are better. But there is no other single company that offers a competitive watch, tablet, laptop, and phone. Not everyone needs this, which is why basically 50% of people aren’t in the Apple ecosystem. But it’s a legitimate draw for many people. And make sure that you don’t fall in the trap of thinking “just because Apple products aren’t right for me, then everyone that uses them must be an idiot.” You pay for the convenience, but for many people that is worth it, and the fact that not every Apple product is #1 is okay. Basically every Apple product line has something in the top 3. Apple is like the Disney of the tech world- there are other companies that make good movies, and there are other companies with cruise lines and theme parks, but nobody else that does all that. They stand alone in terms of their breadth and consistency.
- jrm4 4y ago
  For sure. That's exactly what I was trying to get across with my first comment; but I suppose I was wondering for folks (especially perhaps us techy folks) who may not much require that kind of cross platform connectedness -- are there any other advantages?
  - parsimo2010 4y ago
    From a technical standpoint Apple's processors are industry leading- they licensed the core tech from ARM, but their combination of getting them built on advanced production nodes and the tight design integration into the products makes them stand out. And Apple's software support is a couple years longer than most other brands- so an iPhone will continue to be useable in terms of speed and security longer than most Android phones. From a development standpoint, developing for Apple devices on an Apple device is a better experience. I would say that most other things are on par with other devices/brands, and so you would trade on individual things that you prioritize- screen quality, battery life, compatibility with particular software, etc. And there are a couple small areas in which Apple probably doesn't make sense. For basic video editing, I might still use Apple devices. But if I was creating a rendering farm for an animation studio, I'd probably build servers with video cards and parts that weren't Apple.
everdrive 4y ago
Android locks you in as well. We had a hell of a time when switching from Android. My wife's new iPhone wasn't receiving any messages, and we had never heard of "RCS (Rich Communications Services)" prior to this problem. It's incredibly stupid.
jwalton 4y ago
I made the jump from Android to Apple a year ago. For me, the benefits were that Apple has a much nicer camera than any of the Android options (especially all the Pixel phones, which have essentially had exactly the same camera for the past six years or so), and that I knew I’d get software updates for at least five years. Before this I had the Nexus 6P, which despite being a Google branded phone, only got updates for three years. If you amortize the cost of the phone over five years instead of three, it suddenly makes the Apple phones seem like a deal.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
thiht 4y ago
Maybe specific to me, but hear me out. 5 years ago, I was all Windows + Android. For both, you get hardware choice. This made me buy mid-range because it felt like a good deal to me. But every laptop I had was cheaply built and became slower and slower. I've never had an Android phone for more than 2 years because they all died for reasons: I had 2 Nexus 5 x that died in a bootloop (a well known issue with this model that Google has always refused to acknowledge), and a Pixel (3a I think?) that stopped charging for no reason. Now with Apple you don't have a choice in hardware, you can't buy low-cost or mid range. You have to make the choice the make for you. Thiw works for me because I've never had better hardware in my life. I've had a MBP and an iPhone for 2 years and they're still as strong and efficient as the first day. The only non Apple device I still have are my Jabra earbuds, but the left one is randomly dying now. Can't to buy Airpods Pro instead :)

by jrm4 4y ago

robin_reala 4y ago

iPhone Mini: you basically can’t get an Android phone with reasonable specs and a reasonable size.

ip26 4y ago
Yes, this is exactly what drove me to switch.

bananamerica 4y ago

iPhones are durable and are supported for longer times. Some people prefer spending more upfront for a product that will last longer. iOS is not a bad OS, and some might say that is more idiot proof than Android.

LtWorf 4y ago
no f-droid on iphone… Which means 0 chance of getting apps with no tracking.

helloooooooo 4y ago

I switched from Android to iPhone. I was tired of my Android phones (Samsung Galaxy’s) only receiving updates for ~2 years. On top of that, I found that there was a lot of “jank” when using some apps. They would crash, fail to load, slow down etc… I attribute that mostly due to the Java based code. I also hated having both Google and Samsung trying to bait me into their “ecosystems”. They also have both the device OEM and Google prying their big data vacuums into the devices. My iPhone on the other hand, I am still on my first one, and it is 4 years old and still gets updates. And judging by history, it should still get updates for at least another 2-3 years. Apps don’t crash. The battery is just starting to go on it, but a replacement isn’t very expensive. And the entire Apple “ecosystem” is optional here. Apple is just starting to spin up an ad ecosystem, but the privacy features of the device are quite unparalleled (although I wish I were able to install an on device ad blocker that actually works)

herbst 4y ago
To be fair Samsung is pushing the worst possible android experience consistently since they make phones. Their android flavor is nothing like stock android, buggy and gets barely updated. The phones to expensive for the actual build quality. Samsung is just the most ugly side of Android. A pixel or even a Xiaomi that ship with stock and allow removing unwanted apps without hacks is not even compareable.
- jrm4 4y ago
  Hijack my own thread for curiosity. Can Americans get Xiaomi or similar Chinese brands? I've always been curious to try one because I feel like I could hack my way around stuff but life/family keeping busy stuff...
  - herbst 4y ago
    No American but you can just order them from China directly they sell EU and US versions on AliExpress. I can only recommend Xiaomi, cheap, very good build quality and you don't need to hack or root anything and still have full control over your phone. I've had a cheap Oppo before and it drowned, fell and more and still goes strong 8+ years later.
spaghettiToy 4y ago
Avoid Samsung on every single product line they have.

poink 4y ago

In isolation, I don't think there's much reason to buy an iPhone right now. I have an iPhone 12 Pro and a Pixel 6a and they're interchangeable as far as I'm concerned. I also have a Mac, AirPods, and an Apple Watch, though. That makes it kind of a no-brainer which phone I carry around with me.

colinmhayes 4y ago
Access to iMessage so that I can text people in less than 10 seconds is the only reason most people need to get an iphone. Apple's incentives with regards to privacy are also much betters than Googles. Neither are great, but apples strategy revolves around selling marked up hardware, while Googles is 100% about getting people to use google products so that they can be served ads.

askonomm 4y ago

Price difference? iPhone SE is $429, iPhone 11 is $499, iPhone 12 $599, iPhone 13 $699. I feel like people who still are stuck at Apple pricing, have really no idea about Apple pricing. Sure, if you want the maxed out best iPhone, it'll be around 1 thousand USD, but so will be maxed out best Android.

buttersbrian 4y ago
But you're talking old phones in the 499 range. You can get new phones in that range in the android ecosystem. Many people inherently don't want last years model, or the model from 3 years ago. Apple just isn't as competitive for new devices.
- ascagnel_ 4y ago
  The full range of the current phones Apple sells today (2022 iPhone SE on the low end through the iPhone 13 Pro Max on the high end) both use the same chipset: the A15 "bionic". As you go up the scale, you're paying more for hardware features (better camera sensor, front depth sensor for face scanning, etc.). This will probably change pretty soon, only because the higher-end phones tend to be refreshed in the fall and the low-end phone was announced and then refreshed in the spring. Obviously, you can save some money by buying an older phone with better hardware features, but the same applies to Android -- this year's "mushy middle" of pricing is occupied with last year's flagship model.
jrm4 4y ago
Again, as I've said above. 150. I have chosen the price point of 150. Whatever's on sale at Best Buy for that. Maybe Costco. I am around Apple people. With the exception of that cross device thing which I concede can be a big deal for some, I have not dealt with or seen any significant differences between their experience and mine.

SNlMyhFioa 4y ago

I do not want to spend my free, leisure time tweaking personal devices beyond a few configuration options. I'm happy to pay for convenience. I write code and setup cloud infrastructure for a living.

jrm4 4y ago
Fair, but I, on Android don't do that either? Like I said, I used to play around with rooting and stuff, but in the past 5+ years or so (especially with work AND kids et al) it's been "Pop into Best Buy, watcha got for 150, login with Google, done."

vachina 4y ago

laumars 4y ago

No. But there’s also no “real” reasons to buy Android instead either. It’s literally just a matter of personal preference

coldpie 4y ago

There are zero Android phones that are usable one-handed. Apple makes two such models. I strongly prefer Android as an operating system, but if I can't physically use the phone, it's useless to me. So I'm on iPhone.

rascul 4y ago
I've always used my Android phones one-handed. So, certainly not zero.
- coldpie 4y ago
  How do you reach the far corner of the screen?
orcy 4y ago
I actually found some, but this is Japanese models. The one I have got is Sharp Aquos R2 compact.

makeitdouble 4y ago

Not having to care about anything is a real advantage. If you have absolutely no interest in phones, the base iPhone will be a better device than any android of the same price in terms of stability (years of use) and support (you'll hit not mobile website that doesn't handle it, any major app provider will support it) android has advantages only if you actually have specific aspects you want to optimize (price, performance, photo, obscure tools, versatility etc..)

overgrownzygote 4y ago

Having the Apple Store support option is another one. Yes, repairs can be a bit expensive, but most of them can be done same-day instead of having to ship my phone off for a week+ to get repairs. This depends on where you’re located though — in some places it’s much easier to get quick OEM repairs for (some) Android devices than for Apple ones. The A-series chips are also genuinely very good, but one could argue that a lot of that power is wasted on iOS. Anecdotally, I’ve also found battery life on iPhones to be more reliable out of the box than on most Android devices, especially in standby.

jrm4 4y ago
Right. But I feel like "just get another one for 150" is a comparable solution.

ethanbond 4y ago

> I went from "picking an Android very carefully for rooting" gradually to "what's on sale at Best Buy for about 150" with no major shift in experience or quality. Well a lot of people can very clearly tell the difference between a middle of the pack iPhone and a $150 Android device. That you experienced no such variation among the Android lineup is why people prefer Apple. It "feels like" a premium product, is priced like a premium product, and is perceived as a premium product because... you guessed it: it's a premium product!

jrm4 4y ago
You literally just gave no reasons. Edit: So to clarify, you could be saying "there is something better about Apple" or "Apple people are complete suckers." Which is it?
- ethanbond 4y ago
  I'm saying that creating a premium product cannot be distilled down to one feature/dimension/characteristic and it's a fruitless task to just ask people on the internet to do it for you. 1) Many people can't specifically identify and articulate which characteristics lead them to prefer one product over another. 2) Many people have different reasons for preferring the same product over the same alternative 3) An individual is probably preferring a set of characteristics that overdetermines their preference (i.e. if you remove one of the set, their preference still doesn't change) and the set is comprised of individually not-very-important characteristics. Would you be confused if someone said that they prefer a Porsche Panamera over a Honda Civic? They could probably say they prefer the size of the Panamera, but that's clearly not sufficient explanation because they also would prefer it over a CR-V. Then they'd say the materials used are better. But would they now accept a CR-V with the interior redone in ultra-premium materials? Very unlikely. The reality is that their preference is a complex mixture of things that they struggle to even detect never mind articulate. "Good product companies" get this, and bad product companies just stare in befuddlement at why their CR-V with fancy leather isn't outcompeting Porsche. Of course when you ask someone to explain their preference, they cannot. They don't have the language to describe it! It's a silly question to even ask!

wartijn_ 4y ago

1) Not being locked in into the Google ecosystem and being tracked by that company. You need to be logged in into your Google account for the play store, which means you're looped in to Gmail and Google calendar. In iOS I can choose to use different providers for email, calendar, and password management or remove the apps (for the first two). 2) Long support which makes the price really reasonable. I've been using an iPhone 8 for a couple of years now, and still have the latest iOS version and the phone works good enough. If I would have bought an Android phone when I bought my iPhone I would have needed to replace it already, because of lack of updates.

herbst 4y ago
You need an apple account to use their store or? You can also use a different Google account (or account generally) for every app, on non botched stock android at least. You can also remove all apps with stock android, also Google apps. Samsung really skewed the view by shipping the worst possible android. My Google account for my phone is just for that nothing else. My last phone cost $120 and lasted 6 years, it still works but doesn't run my banking app anymore. my current one was $250 and last for 2 years without issues already.
- wartijn_ 4y ago
  I do have an Apple account myself, but apparently you don't need one[0] And I checked on my old Android phone, an Nokia 6.1, which is supposed to have stock Android, and I can't delete these apps: calendar, drive, lens, gmail, chrome, files, photos. [0] https://www.macworld.com/article/673831/how-to-use-an-iphone-without-an-apple-id.html https://www.macworld.com/article/673831/how-to-use-an-iphone...
  - herbst 4y ago
    I am no specialist, just someone who avoided plenty of brands. My theorie is that they lock down some stock apps so it doesn't look so fishy when Facebook and co is locked too to get good ad deals. Every phone I owned in the last 10 years allowed full control about apps without root. That's a nexus, a cheap Oppo and now a Xiaomi. Edit:// I thought you need an account to activate the iphone? Not sure if I am totally wrong

AbrahamParangi 4y ago

In my opinion the UX on Android is inferior. It’s not about as good, it’s worse. There are just a million kinda shitty decisions embedded in the interface that aren’t quite right. For me Android is like an off-brand cola. It gets the job done. It’s sugar water, just like coke. But there are a million little decisions that make Coke a better product.

readams 4y ago
For me iPhone UX is confusing and inconvenient. There are a million shitty decisions embedded in the interface.
- iconosynclast 4y ago
  going from one to the other will always be confusing but as a long time android user I have to say UX has really been going downhill quite a bit. the same could be true for ios but I wouldn't know and neither would other android users so from that perspective a switch might seem like a reasonable idea

parsimo2010 4y ago

For general consumers, the Apple ecosystem beyond just messaging is a legitimate reason. It’s not just messaging, it’s handoff of your browser from your phone to your tablet to your laptop so you can easily keep reading a website even if you swap devices. It’s Apple Pay. It’s Apple Music. Sure, there are Android apps for all of those things, but you have to spend time picking each app and setting it up. Starting a new Apple product is an entirely different experience. It’s decent hardware and a consistent experience- sure, there have been misses, and sometimes there are non-Apple products that are better. But there is no other single company that offers a competitive watch, tablet, laptop, and phone. Not everyone needs this, which is why basically 50% of people aren’t in the Apple ecosystem. But it’s a legitimate draw for many people. And make sure that you don’t fall in the trap of thinking “just because Apple products aren’t right for me, then everyone that uses them must be an idiot.” You pay for the convenience, but for many people that is worth it, and the fact that not every Apple product is #1 is okay. Basically every Apple product line has something in the top 3. Apple is like the Disney of the tech world- there are other companies that make good movies, and there are other companies with cruise lines and theme parks, but nobody else that does all that. They stand alone in terms of their breadth and consistency.

jrm4 4y ago
For sure. That's exactly what I was trying to get across with my first comment; but I suppose I was wondering for folks (especially perhaps us techy folks) who may not much require that kind of cross platform connectedness -- are there any other advantages?
- parsimo2010 4y ago
  From a technical standpoint Apple's processors are industry leading- they licensed the core tech from ARM, but their combination of getting them built on advanced production nodes and the tight design integration into the products makes them stand out. And Apple's software support is a couple years longer than most other brands- so an iPhone will continue to be useable in terms of speed and security longer than most Android phones. From a development standpoint, developing for Apple devices on an Apple device is a better experience. I would say that most other things are on par with other devices/brands, and so you would trade on individual things that you prioritize- screen quality, battery life, compatibility with particular software, etc. And there are a couple small areas in which Apple probably doesn't make sense. For basic video editing, I might still use Apple devices. But if I was creating a rendering farm for an animation studio, I'd probably build servers with video cards and parts that weren't Apple.

everdrive 4y ago

Android locks you in as well. We had a hell of a time when switching from Android. My wife's new iPhone wasn't receiving any messages, and we had never heard of "RCS (Rich Communications Services)" prior to this problem. It's incredibly stupid.

jwalton 4y ago

I made the jump from Android to Apple a year ago. For me, the benefits were that Apple has a much nicer camera than any of the Android options (especially all the Pixel phones, which have essentially had exactly the same camera for the past six years or so), and that I knew I’d get software updates for at least five years. Before this I had the Nexus 6P, which despite being a Google branded phone, only got updates for three years. If you amortize the cost of the phone over five years instead of three, it suddenly makes the Apple phones seem like a deal.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

thiht 4y ago

Maybe specific to me, but hear me out. 5 years ago, I was all Windows + Android. For both, you get hardware choice. This made me buy mid-range because it felt like a good deal to me. But every laptop I had was cheaply built and became slower and slower. I've never had an Android phone for more than 2 years because they all died for reasons: I had 2 Nexus 5 x that died in a bootloop (a well known issue with this model that Google has always refused to acknowledge), and a Pixel (3a I think?) that stopped charging for no reason. Now with Apple you don't have a choice in hardware, you can't buy low-cost or mid range. You have to make the choice the make for you. Thiw works for me because I've never had better hardware in my life. I've had a MBP and an iPhone for 2 years and they're still as strong and efficient as the first day. The only non Apple device I still have are my Jabra earbuds, but the left one is randomly dying now. Can't to buy Airpods Pro instead :)