Am I too old to switch from Android to Apple (for mobile photography)?

[swee'pea99]

And, more broadly, is it a good idea?

I've been minded to replace my recently-departed (don't ask) Huawei P30 Pro with another, on account of nothing available on the bay within hailing distance of £200 coming close, photographically, but having seen this showdown v the iPhone Pro Max 11 (which nails several P30 bugs that have bugged me), and other reviews lauding the 11, I'm seriously thinking about making the switch, even at the cost of probably another £70 +/-. But I've never used anything Apple before, I'm not really set up for it (I've always lived in a Windows/Android world), and I can't remember what I came in here for half the time. Is it too late? Should I do it? Can I do it?

One other thing....my daughter says Apple have form for deliberately hobbling their older models, using updates, slowing and generally degrading them to make new models more attractive by comparison. Having experienced exactly that with both Samsung and Huawei, I find it very easy to believe. Is it a particular problem with Apple, or are they no more venal than anyone else?

Any thoughts/experiences much appreciated.

 

[Joffey]

I think it is possible nowadays. They all transfer data over pretty easy. My 73 year old mother in law copes with an iPad and android phone and my 81 year old mum happily uses a 5 year old iPhone.

It might take you a day or two to get used to it but you’ll be right. The cameras are pretty decent and the best thing about iPhones is the tend to just work without many problems. That’s cos they are quite locked down compared to android.

If you fancy one go for it. If you hate it, sell it on, you won’t lose much money.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Work changed our iPhone to Android a while back. I'd trade back to Apple anyday. More intuitive it basically just works without fuss....

 

[Cycleops]

As FF says iPhone iOS just works but if you’re talking about photography unless you’re considering one of the newer iPhones you might be better off with a Pixel, even if it’s one of the older ones. The photography software and camera is very good. The 3XL or 4a would be a good budget choice.

 

[wafter]

Can't speak from a technical perspective, but personally I'd never have any Apple product for all the usual reasons.

 

[tom73]

Bit of long post but as a long term Apple user and household I will try to be helpful and cover your main points.

@swee'pea99 no your not too old i've known plenty of older people move over and have no issues.
You've not needed to have other Apple stuff to use an iPhone for years even the watch is now independent of an iPhone. It's all done over wifi. The outlaws have a mix of Apple and none Apple and have no issues. As for slowing down they famously did it once to help with power management of older phones using a new iOS. It was handled badly at the time by the time they come clean. The press had already gone to town on it and it's hung around ever since. Power management is now built into iOS. So it's easy to see apps that slow stuff down and easy to manage. The press love to bash Apple BBC are experts much of the stuff is either press bashing, users not bothered with simple data safely or not bothering to learn how stuff works.

Setting one up is simple turn on and follow the pictures and text you can skip bits' and come back later if you like.
It's a simple process to move stuff over at set up. You will need an Apple account that's not hard and its free. If you buy from Apple you're asked to do it anyway. You can assess iCloud accounts on a PC so that side works too.

I've had an iPhone since the days of 3s never had a really issue. Apple have plenty of online guides , Youtube is full of stuff and you can always ask on here. Photography is one of my mostly used things never had an issue , had great results and the iOS handles photo storage management side pretty well with some nice features built in.

If you want to switch as it better meets your needs than go for it. It will be different to start with but you soon get going it's pretty simple to pick up. Most of the complex stuff you can happily let the iOS do it for you. Basically they just work without too much drama , they are well made and not a lump plastic. iPhone Pro Max 11 is a few years old now but still a pretty good phone still supported by Apple. Well up to taking great pictures.

Have you had a look at placers to buy one ?

 

[CXRAndy]

Apple is such a rip off though. My daughter has apple products, she recently took a new job. She can work from home a couple of days a week. She has a 2017 MacBook Pro. Which has served her well. The new software the company wants her to use requires a bit more processing power.

That's fine computer technology moves along. She spoke to her colleagues and they have the latest MacBook Pro 16" laptops. We looked at the price, nearly £4000 for a bloody laptop.. Jesus, no way has she that money. You might be looking at £2-2.5k for top end windows laptop.

Apple wants an £3000 extra if you wanted 8tb storage. Daughter bought a 4tb plug in drive from WD for £150. I told her to shut down all other programs and just run the main application, even though it's still jittery.

 

[vickster]

Apple is such a rip off though. My daughter has apple products, she recently took a new job. She can work from home a couple of days a week. She has a 2017 MacBook Pro. Which has served her well. The new software the company wants her to use requires a bit more processing power.

That's fine computer technology moves along. She spoke to her colleagues and they have the latest MacBook Pro 16" laptops. We looked at the price, nearly £4000 for a bloody laptop.. Jesus, no way has she that money. You might be looking at £2-2.5k for top end windows laptop.

Apple wants an £3000 extra if you wanted 8tb storage. Daughter bought a 4tb plug in drive from WD for £150. I told her to shut down all other programs and just run the main application, even though it's still jittery.

The OP is asking about phones though?
as an aside, why isn’t her work providing the laptop?

 

[CXRAndy]

Apple phones are a rip off too

 

[oldwheels]

I have used Apple for years and find them much better than anything else I have tried.
They do cost more but for ease of use and picture quality I am willing to put up with that. My current 8+ was bought refurbished by Apple and came with a new battery. Not too expensive.

 

[Alex321]

And, more broadly, is it a good idea?

I've been minded to replace my recently-departed (don't ask) Huawei P30 Pro with another, on account of nothing available on the bay within hailing distance of £200 coming close, photographically, but having seen this showdown v the iPhone Pro Max 11 (which nails several P30 bugs that have bugged me), and other reviews lauding the 11, I'm seriously thinking about making the switch, even at the cost of probably another £70 +/-. But I've never used anything Apple before, I'm not really set up for it (I've always lived in a Windows/Android world), and I can't remember what I came in here for half the time. Is it too late? Should I do it? Can I do it?

One other thing....my daughter says Apple have form for deliberately hobbling their older models, using updates, slowing and generally degrading them to make new models more attractive by comparison. Having experienced exactly that with both Samsung and Huawei, I find it very easy to believe. Is it a particular problem with Apple, or are they no more venal than anyone else?

Any thoughts/experiences much appreciated.

Apple stuff is good, there is no doubt about that. But you pay a significant premium for the design, on top of what you would pay for similar functionality from Windows or Android devices.

I would never consider going Apple if you are looking for something budget. But if you are looking for quality and budget is not important, then it may well be the way to go.

Just for context, I have always for personal devices used windows desktops/laptops and Android smart phones (Mainly Samsung, but have also has Sony, Motorola, LG) and tablet. My work laptop is an Apple Macbook Pro, and it really is a nice machine.

 

[newts]

I review quite a lot of work related photos from site visits, sent in via apple/android. The android photos are generally sharper when zoomed in. The android pictures come from the S20 & upwards range of phones.

 

[Cycleops]

Apple support their devices for a lot longer than Android. You'll be lucky to get around two years from Android. @oldwheels 8 is six plus years old?

 

[Alex321]

Apple support their devices for a lot longer than Android. You'll be lucky to get around two years from Android. @oldwheels 8 is six plus years old?

I haven't had an Android device out of support in 2 years. Some may not get the latest version of Android from the manufacturer (many can still upgrade to a later version of rooted), but they will still run on older versions, and Android versions still get support several years on from later versions being released.

It is the norm now for contracts to be spread over two years, and three isn't uncommon, which wouodn't be the case if they didn't expect the phones to be supported for longer than that.

 

[MichaelW2]

The Apple ecosystem requires that your laptop and tablet be Apple.