My plan is to stick with my 14 Pro Max and skip 15 and even 15 Ultra. It's been a LOT of years since I got an iPhone that doesn't have any hardware issues. I know we talk about how iphone quality is on such a high level. Well I'm not saying I had quality control issues exactly.
But even with the phones I had that I liked there was always something driving me to upgrade. My iphone 7 Plus was never right after the first major iOS update and ran hot and was buggy. My lovely green iphone 11 Pro would very frequently just suddenly start heating up to painful levels like it was going to burn up. My main reason to upgrade though, was to get good call quality and better connectivity. My iphones were poor in that regard compared to my Android phones.
My 14 Pro Max is the most compatible with me and it's flawless in terms of hardware quality and I like it. The connectivity is adequate. (It's also adequate on my SE3, 12 mini and iphone 11, which are all also keepers). So I'm simply not willing to put myself through another test run on a new phone and new display just for some design changes I'm frankly not interested in nor updates I don't see myself needing, given my satisfaction with what is right here and paid for! Also 1 TB of storage. Woohoo!
Yes the periscope lens rumors sound interesting, but I already have that on my S23 Ultra and S22 Ultra for that matter. I don't want to buy a whole new iphone for that feature. Also... purple! I love this color and am not even close to tired of it. I actually hug this phone.
My S23 Ultra is also making such a favorable impression on me. After the crushing disappointment of the display on the one I returned (or tried to and no my husband hasn't resolved that yet, yes our lives are that... overburdened...right now). Anyway after that disappointment, I really lucked out with this one I'm typing on now.
I'm still setting it up. I have it set up in working order but I haven't finalized the look and customization yet. But I've got it working as a big part of my day. I actually do take both of my big phones along with me a lot now. I love this pink color and the pink aluminum sides. It's so pretty. I have different cases for it but usually use my clear one. I am optimistic that I'll keep this one 2 years, too. Heck it looks like I'll be keeping the S21 Ultra, another year, too.
I wish I could play with my Pixel 6 Pro. If it weren't for my having a hard time looking at the display, I would use it a lot more around the home on wifi and switch my sim into it on occasion. If I upgrade it, it would be to try and get one I can use again. But it's not a priority. It's just something fun I'm thinking of doing.
The way you feel about your 14 Pro Max I felt about my 13 Pro Max. If I would have been able to get it unlocked I would still have it. I probably wouldn't have gotten the Pixel 7 Pro. There really wasn't anything I didn't like other than as you said the reception could have been better and the camera system felt average for an expensive phone but otherwise it was pretty close to perfect.
I do love the purple color on the new iPhones and I am so jealous I can't have a phone with such a cool color. If I could have afforded buying directly from Samsung I would have gotten the lime or blue or maybe even the grey but the lavender is really nice looking too. I ended up with the green s23 ultra and while I don't dislike it, I am not as enamored with it as I would have been with one of the other colors.
However having to leave iOS completely over the past few months has been eye opening.
Android has really made improvements in the key areas I had problems with which originally drove me to iPhone. Again I think it really makes a difference the kind of user you are. Do you care about internals, specs, configuration of your device and the OS or do you just want something that works with as little input from you as possible and works seamlessly with other Apple devices? If you are the second user an iPhone will always be better no matter the specs or new features.
I am someone who actually reads about what kind of internal storage is used and how fast it is, what nm process a CPU is on and what type and how many cores it has and every component of a device I scrutinize and read about so if I feel I am paying a premium I expect everything to be cutting edge and a premium design, fit and finish and probably the most important is stability and as many features that actually work and make difference in my use case as possible.
I still think Apple makes a slightly more secure phone simply because it is in control to a larger externt of the supply chain but things have changed and I am not as confident as I used to be specially with what I have read about Foxconn in China. And even Apple use some components that are outsourced.
I also used to think that privacy was better on Apple than Android and I still do but I don't think it is as simple as everyone makes it out to be. People get upset with Google because they say they track everything you do but how do we know Apple doesn't do the exact same thing? We can't know with 100% certainty because iOS is a proprietary software. So they could be using our data in ways we don't authorize and would have no idea. While Google is completely open about what they do with our data and software engineers can verify what Google says by auditing the open source software of Android.
If you have a Pixel you are pretty much as secure as an iPhone and Samsung is close but still not as good since you have a secondary app store which is a security vulnerability by default. But, like Apple, Samsung has a vested monetary interest to keep things secure or lose customer faith. So again I think the whole iPhone is more secure is not as simple or true as often regurgitated by so many people.
And privacy is a joke on any internet connected device - period. Sure you can harden and have layers of security but ultimately if someone dedicated, funded, and educated enough can break into any system and snoop or spy or worse.
So then it comes down to hardware and software. Which is best? I think it is hard to argue that at this moment in time that iPhone has better hardware and software on the current 14 line up. In some ways like that purple the iPhone is superior and in other ways like connectivity and feature set s23ultra is better. Android at this moment feels more feature rich and stable than iOS. BUT iOS has an advantage in interconnectivity of other Apple devices BUT Samsung has gone a long way to minimize that advantage offering a very similar and in some way superior interconnectivity between Windows PCS and Samsung tablets and Samsung and Pixel watches.
BUT Apple has the money and persistence to turn this all around again and become the better choice. They can improve their hardware and software to a point where they are again on top. It will always be a seesaw between Samsung, Pixel and Apple with one camp being slightly better than the other.
I also happen to like Linux and open source software in general and the idea behind it. Unfortunately when stuff is free it is not as valued and sometimes not as good but the fact that it is still a viable option against seriously monied competition is pretty cool. Google started out trying to be a good influence in the world or at least that was their marketing spin. Things have changed a bit but hopefully they will return to that idea once again. Apple and Microsoft have always been about profits but at least when Jobs ran things he truly tried to be innovative and deliver a consistent first class experience. He didn't have a ton of slightly different devices in a product category but tried to simplify the choices and user experience but do so while delivering a superior and more expensive product. Hopefully Apple will return to a more Jobs oriented approach over the recent influence of Tim Apple.
Competition is good though because it pushes Apple and Android to be better constantly.
..we shall see...
128GB Snow and as if it was the first day out the box in mint condition
