- I've owned iPhones since the first one was released. Now I also own a
Google Pixel Fold. - It was eye-opening.
Apple iPhone users don't know all the features and benefits they are missing.
But, as someone who has owned many iPhones since the very first one, and recently started using Android, too, I can't help but wonder if iPhone users really understand what they are missing.
Gone are the days where new iPhones added such jaw-dropping new features that fans across the US would line up for hours (or camp out) to get one. There were some lines for the iPhone 15 at stores in Hangzhou, China and Mumbai, but those are locations where iPhone demand routinely outstrips supply and ownership is still somewhat of a status symbol.
My iPhone 13 doesn't really look much different than a brand new iPhone 15. The available colors are the biggest visible change.
Every year the iPhone claims a faster chip, a better camera and some hardware modification that is hardly noticeable, or is possibly annoying: A notch! A dynamic island! Removal of the audio jack.
In fact, the good folks at the Verge said the
For those who don't know, the Action Button is a button on the side of the phone that replaces the "ringer off" switch and can be programmed to do one function, like turn on the flashlight. So if this is the phone's most significant new feature, color me blown away.
As for iOS 17, many of the best features have been used and enjoyed by Google and Samsung devices for quite some time. Live voicemail that shows a real-time transcription as the voicemail is being recorded? Android has had it since 2015.
Interactive home screen widgets? Android has had them for more than a decade.
Standby, which turns your phone into a large-type digital clock or photo frame at night or while charging? Having a phone display useful information when docked is hardly new.
Finding pictures of your pets? Google Photos users have been able to see their photos of Spot for years (Google Photos works quite nicely on iOS, too, by the way).
Let's not forget USB-C, marketed as the new hardware port for the iPhone 15. Switching to the industry standard USB-C was not a feature Apple added by choice but was forced on it by the European Union.
I could go on but I think you get the point. Like the old TV Networks used to say about summer reruns, they're not reruns if they're new to you. Apple feels innovative only if you haven't used a late-model Android flagship device.
Want WhatsApp on your Apple watch? Forget about it. Want to share an iPhone between multiple people each with their own Apple account? Not supported. While both iOS and Android are mature, sophisticated platforms, there are cases where Apple lags behind Android.
While Apple hardware stagnates, Google has made significant strides. Its Pixel Tablet includes a charging dock that is also a speaker. When docked, the tablet is on with a full smart display, ensuring it is always charged and ready if you want to undock it.
The Google Pixel Fold balances the ability to use it as a great smartphone when closed while turning it into an iPad-mini-sized tablet when opened. No one asks to look at my iPhone anymore. The Pixel Fold grabs so much attention, I try to avoid opening it in public places unless I have the time to fully demo it to people gathered around me. Meanwhile, Samsung offers two versions, the larger Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the smaller Galaxy Z Flip 5.
It's Google and Samsung, not Apple, that are pushing the boundaries of
The one thing that Apple has done is raise the barriers of their walled garden even higher. Something simple such as transferring a photo from an iPhone to an Android device can be an exercise in frustration as I found out recently. Apple Photos won't easily share to Google Photos.
Certainly let's not forget the largest lock on an iPhone's door, iMessage and Apple's refusal to support an interoperability standard.
Want to install some apps of your own choosing to get around the draconian App store rules? Nope, can't do it. Then there are things Apple promised long ago such as releasing Facetime as an open standard, that never materialized. Or forcing Google to delay an interoperable Bluetooth tracking feature so users can know if they're being stalked. They remain broken promises to the industry so Apple can keep iOS users on iOS.
As much as Apple would like to convince you otherwise, the choice between an iPhone 13 and a 15 is really as much of a choice as Coke vs Pepsi. There might be diehards on both sides but for most people it just doesn't matter. As for the those loyal to Apple and therefore uninterested in Android, consider this: Apple isn't for those that Think Different as Steve Jobs famously used to say. It's for a mass market that thinks the same. The revolutionaries are now the bureaucrats.
Michael Gartenberg is a former senior marketing executive at Apple and has covered the company for more than two decades as a market-research analyst at Gartner, Jupiter Research, and Altimeter Group. He is also an Apple shareholder. He can be reached on Twitter at @Gartenberg.