iPhones

[PaulSB]

This is a genuine question, not a knock at iPhone users.

What do they actually do that my budget TCL 605, £7.50 a month from Tesco can't do? Most of my friends have iPhones but none of them can actually explain what I am missing out on.

I'm happy with my phone and have no wish to upgrade, just curious.

I was an iPhone user, by choice, when I worked. It was a company phone. When I retired an Android phone was my choice based purely on cost.

After 10 years as an Android user I've yet to find anything I can't achieve on my Samsung that I was able to do with the iPhone.

It's nine years since I had an iPhone so any comparison would be unfair, a current Samsung set against a 2016 iPhone. I do prefer the Android but then I've no idea what a 2026 iPhone can do.

 

[biggs682]

This is a question that I asked myself a few weeks ago when I was looking at replacing my MOTOROLA g14 .

My works phone and laptop are Apple's and everything the company I work for is based on Apple phones and pc's and have been for 10+ years for an unknown to me reason.

My Swmbo uses an older model apple and is more than happy with it although it is due to be replaced when she gets around to it.

My Motorola was only being replaced due to not being able to make in car phone calls that the person I was calling could understand.

What stopped me from buying an apple was purely costs , there's no way I could think about spending anything over £150 so it would be a reconditioned and or second hand Apple phone.

I liked the look of the Pixel phones but they are crazy money as well. Then I had an e mail from Motorola with some special offers on so the decision was made there and then a new Motorola g56 5g for £119 which had been on my shortlist , and so far all good and does exactly as the Apple phones I looked at could do plus more.

 

[Rusty Nails]

I have an iPhone 13 mini simply because it was the smallest decent smartphone I could find. I hate it the way manufacturers seem to assume that everything must go bigger.

I actually bought it from an online used phone retailer, so took a chance but it has been great.

Other than the sensible size I have no preference for it over other makes.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

My first iPhone was the iPhone 3G and I stuck with the brand for a number of years before I had my first dabble with android. I got the Samsung Galaxy S8 which I kept for six months before moving back to iPhone. The S8 was frustratingly bad.

Fast forward a number of years and I tried again with the Google Pixel 8. Havin had the Apple Watch too I paired the Pixel with the Pixel watch. The watch was simply junk in comparison to Apple Watch but I persisted with the Pixel phone. It was a massive improvement over the earlier Samsung and the experience went well till some frustrations made me move back to iPhone.

The face recognition on the Pixel worked great but it was of little use other than unlocking the phone. Most apps didn’t support it so fingerprint unlocking was used. I have never found that any good on any device. Google wallet is also grossly inferior to Apple Wallet and the Google Play store is frustrating.

Let’s say I want to find the ACME Inc app from Roadrunner Enterprise. Easily done in Apple’s app store but there are too many lookalikes in Google Play store and it is easy to inadvertently download the wrong one. There is must derision about Apple’s walled garden approach, and I get that, but there are benefits to it as well.

 

[geocycle]

Like others, I was a fan of the iPhone 13 mini . The best thing about it was the size. Unfortunately it was also the main problem for me as I found it just too small for easy reading without glasses. The battery life was also a bit limited. I’m now on a standard iPhone 17 which I find much easier to use and has a great battery. I also enjoy using the macro lens on the camera.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

small for easy reading without glasses.

Then wear glasses if your eyes need it!

 

[Fastpedaller]

I have an iphone that my Wife passed to me when she bought a newer iphone. I consider it to be good, but I have never had a 'smart phone' before, so I cannot add anything useful other than ......... it's a darned site easier to operate than my previous phone, a doro which is aimed at seniors! I am 67, but the thing was VERY difficult to use, even sending a text was a challenge, My Daughter (27) said it was challenging, and she's a wiz with any tech. How the manufacturers expect seniors to use it is beyond me - I only bought it because it was the only flip phone available at the time, and I was concerned an iphone screen could break when stored in my rack bag. I found a very good handlebar mount for the iphone, so breakage isn't a worry any more.

 

[Drago]

This is a genuine question, not a knock at iPhone users.

What do they actually do that my budget TCL 605, £7.50 a month from Tesco can't do? Most of my friends have iPhones but none of them can actually explain what I am missing out on.

I'm happy with my phone and have no wish to upgrade, just curious.

Nuffink, is the answer. You're paying gazillions for a product that cost less than 50 dollars to manufacture, and which cant do anything a highish end Android phone cant do for significantly less dosh.

Mrs D is an iPhone addict and has the top one each year and is most aggrieved that my relatively inexpensive Pixel 10 does stuff, particularly with photos, that the bone cant do.

Personally ai dont care, so long as kt connects and talks to my van.

 

[Dan Lotus]

I have bought a 4 year old iPhone recently for £150. Half the price you paid for your two year old phone. Has latest version of iOS. This is a bit like the discussion on prices of new cars. Just buy one a few years old, and you will save a ton and get all the benefits.

Ah no, misunderstanding I think, the phone I bought new 2 years ago (Honor 90) was £300, and the one I have just bought, again brand new (Honor 400 pro), is £380.

 

[DRM]

The other thing about apple that I could never get my head around, is itunes - so you pay x amount of money over the years to buy tracks on itunes, what happens when/if you want to move to another platform?
Unless I am mistaken, you can't - well you can, but you lose everything you have paid for.
That for me, is an immediate no.

No such thing as iTunes any more, it's Apple Music that's more of a streaming service, we've got it on a family account, I think it works out at £6 each for 3 of us, both me and my son give it some real hammer as he's listening at work all day, and I'm streaming whatever I fancy listening to whilst driving round in the van

 

[Dan Lotus]

ah fair enough, I'm not a streamer of music, I buy CD's and rip them, or pay for downloads, and if I'm not listening to those I'll have Radio 1 on - love new music.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

The other thing about apple that I could never get my head around, is itunes - so you pay x amount of money over the years to buy tracks on itunes, what happens when/if you want to move to another platform?
Unless I am mistaken, you can't - well you can, but you lose everything you have paid for.
That for me, is an immediate no.

It's not compulsory to buy music from Apple. I have 8000'ish tracks in my music library and none have been purchased from Apple. I use Apple Music Library to store them as it does a very reliable sync between devices but a non-Apple player on iPhone/iPad (which plays from Apple Music Library as well as other sources). Main reason for non-Apple music player is a more flexible equaliser which helps playing in the car.

 

[Mike Ayling]

This.

I had an iPod Touch back in the day, so when it came time to getting a "smartphone" it just seemed logical to go for an iPhone as I was already used to how it worked and had all my music and photos already synced into the infrastructure.

I did try an Android phone that I got given by whatever network I was on at the time and just didn't get on with it - seemed totally unintuitive and took me so much longer to do things than on an iPhone, so I gave it back after a week. But then I have a colleague at work who says exactly the same about the iPhone he has to use for work, compared to his personal Android phone that he loves.

But then I'm also not the sort of person who changes their phone to the latest one every year, instead I've tried to make mine last as long as they possibly can. I've recently switched to a 16e, which will only be my fourth ever iPhone (6s, 11, SE 3rd) and all were bought SIM free rather than paying on top of a monthly contract.

The monthly contracts are an expensive way of purchasing

 

[HMS_Dave]

My Smartphone is my last. Never used Apple, I've always not been a fan of locked down ecosystems. But, Android are from September, locking down the Android OS. No more "side-loading" or using other app stores. So they're no better. Samsung and others, are locking "boot loaders" too so you can't make a device last longer by installing another operating system when they decide you need to buy another distraction device in a couple of years... Im sick and tired of planned obsolescence anyway. Why should a working device be bricked because of arbitrary "end of life" policies. None of this is environmentally friendly, frugal or a good use of finite resources, yet they tell me to keep my brightness lower and run in "eco mode" gimping the performance you've paid a lot of money for to "Save energy"... They do have some good gags though, i give them that.

Phew, that's better...

 

[Accy cyclist]

I have two elderly women friends. Both have those no internet, £10 top up each month phones. There's little use is sending them text messages as they either don't reply, saying when seeing me in person that they didn't receive the message, or they'll send me a text telling me not to send links to articles (and definitely dont send any photos!!!!) as It'll quote....knacker their phone up, sometimes even telling not to text them at all as that too will knacker their phone up. Both of the old biddies aren't without a bob or two, so why do they keep using ancient 'technology'! For a few quid more a month they could have a basic I phone with Internet access, photo taking, then sending ability etc etc, but they will not move with the times!😏