Why pay $700 for an iPhone when....?

[Davehow]

Since you asked for what advantages iOS offers other than the general look and feel of the OS itself, here goes:

1. iOS is much, much better for gaming. Since I like games, and spend a lot of my free time playing games, I like having OS and hardware that's good for gaming. That's part of why I actually won't buy a Mac any time soon. And also exactly why I like iOS. It's far superior to both Windows phone and Android in gaming, with far more exclusives than either. The only exception to that rule is the NVidia Shield, which is a better gaming device IF you have a good PC to stream all your best games from. Which sadly, I do not. So iOS it is, for me.

2. Security. Unfortunately, I don't think Google will ever catch up in this area, partly due to the fact that their OS is open unlike iOS, and partly because the thing most of us want security against, apps that track you and sell your info, is Google's biggest revenue source. Either way, this advantage should be fairly evident to anyone who knows about the OS. iOS is sandboxes so malware cannot spread itself throughout the OS, and it lets you micromanage what each individual app is allowed to access on your phone.

3. The App Store is far superior to Google Play in many ways. Sure, Google. Play wins out in a few areas, like customization apps, replacing defaults, and possibly in apps that Apple refuses to support, like emulators and the like. However the App Store quite simply has a far larger selection of apps and several exclusives (the first one I can think of is Facebook Paper).

4. Integration. Between all the integration already introduced, and the more that's coming in iOS 8, if you already have an iPad or Mac, you have plenty of reason to want an iPhone, and vice versa. The fact that a lot of this integration is available in some limited capacity for Windows-iOS too, helps.

5. Android's biggest advantage, customizability, is rendered moot by a 5-minute process. I simply cannot stress this last one enough. Jailbreaking (or Rooting for that matter) offer virtually unlimited customizability. Light years ahead of stock Android and iOS. The thing is, the above listed iOS advantages are nearly insurmountable. Sure you can get a third party solution for security, but those systems always lack something. For example, Google discontinued App Ops because it caused instability in apps. Do third parties take care of that? And the App Store advantage is simply too big a factor to ignore, and can be solved by no one but Google and the Android App Devs. Google is trying to improve integration the same way too, and so is Windows Phone for that matter, but iOS 8 has some killer features that the others don't.

So there are my reasons as to why I would choose an iOS device even if someone offered me a very similar Android device for half the price. That sure is incentive enough for me.

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough, what I asked was for opinions as if you didn't have a preference for either OS over the other.

 

[AAA1337]

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough, what I asked was for opinions as if you didn't have a preference for either OS over the other.

Well yeah, I'm assuming since you asked for an unbiased opinion, you just wanted objective viewpoints, right? Like advantages that the OS has that can't be debated (eg. IOS is more secure, or Android is more customizable), right? That's exactly what I did up there. I left out any subjective advantages like look, feel, brand loyalty and just mentioned the places where iOS is objectively better and what incentive a buyer has to pay $400 more for an iPhone.

 

[anon(4698833)]

You're essentially making this discussion non-sensical by removing the preference of OS...you're basically asking the question:

"Why would you spend $700 on stuff, when you could buy stuff for less than half of that?"

...it makes no sense because the preferences you're omitting are the ONLY things that really matter to most people.

It'd be like asking "Why buy a car for $7,000 when you could have a car for less than half of that?"

Too vague and grossly generic. If they had a phone that did everything that I wanted it to do, looked the way I wanted it to look and came with support in the way I've come to expect for less than half of what I'm used to spending, of course I would buy it...that goes for literally anything on the entire planet, from tomatoes to vacations.

 

[Highrisedrifter]

I'm not disagreeing with any of the above, but I can't help but wonder if those factors are really worth $400 more.

Here's my story. You judge for yourself if the iPhone is worth $400 more for me or not...

I had a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for use for work. I am self employed and get a lot of my work from my agent via email and SMS and a lot of it is timebound, meaning I need to respond as quickly as I can. So for me reliability is absolutely paramount over and above everything else.

One day, whilst out in town, I was sent a message and email from my agent about an urgent job that would have given me ?1500 (about $2500 at today's conversion rates). However, I didn't receive the message as unbeknownst to me, my Note 3 had turned itself off in my pocket. It was only a couple of hours later, when I got home after the end of the working day, did I realise I couldn't turn my phone back on and had to pull the battery to get it to work. I lost out on that ?1500 job and vowed from that day forward that being that the phone cost me a ?1500 job, I would never use a Samsung device ever again.

I switched over to an iPhone for work (I already had one for personal anyway) and couldn't be happier.

At the end of the day, for me, the most important thing is IS IT GOING TO WORK? If it isn't, then it is utterly irrelevant whether the phone has cutting edge specs. Reliability is first and foremost what I look for in a device and Apple deliver that in spades, day after day after day.

 

[ritesh]

So here's the question. Aside from OS preference or whether you're already invested in android or iOS apps, what incentive is there to buy a $700 iphone , or android for that matter, when they're making this available contract free and unlocked for less than half the price?

It all comes down to affordability ( if OS is not to be considered). If any Tom D!ck Harry is given 700 USD (with the only condition that he won't get back balance that he saved on One Plus) and ask to choose between the Iphone and One Plus, most likely, he is going to prefer the iPhone.

Same situation in India. Lots of Local companies like Micromax, Lava, etc that have bleeding edge devices with more than latest specs on their devices at abysmal prices. After talking to friends who have tried them out, found out a few things : 1) The feel is cheap 2) Lousy after sales support. with under qualified staff at service centres( to cut costs obviously), which in the first place are far and less. So if you are lucky the phone is rock solid for a good 3 years, else you are out of luck 3) After the initial wowness of higher specs dries off, there is nothing good about the device to make you feel any longing for it and you start fancying your neighbors Iphone. 4) Lack of good quality accessories like screen protector, cases.

 

[Davehow]

You're essentially making this discussion non-sensical by removing the preference of OS...you're basically asking the question:

"Why would you spend $700 on stuff, when you could buy stuff for less than half of that?"

...it makes no sense because the preferences you're omitting are the ONLY things that really matter to most people.

It'd be like asking "Why buy a car for $7,000 when you could have a car for less than half of that?"

Too vague and grossly generic. If they had a phone that did everything that I wanted it to do, looked the way I wanted it to look and came with support in the way I've come to expect for less than half of what I'm used to spending, of course I would buy it...that goes for literally anything on the entire planet, from tomatoes to vacations.

A good point. I guess I framed it that way because I'm personally not really strongly in preference for either OS and we own a mix of both at home.

It all comes down to affordability ( if OS is not to be considered). If any Tom D!ck Harry is given 700 USD (with the only condition that he won't get back balance that he saved on One Plus) and ask to choose between the Iphone and One Plus, most likely, he is going to prefer the iPhone.

Same situation in India. Lots of Local companies like Micromax, Lava, etc that have bleeding edge devices with more than latest specs on their devices at abysmal prices. After talking to friends who have tried them out, found out a few things : 1) The feel is cheap 2) Lousy after sales support. with under qualified staff at service centres( to cut costs obviously), which in the first place are far and less. So if you are lucky the phone is rock solid for a good 3 years, else you are out of luck 3) After the initial wowness of higher specs dries off, there is nothing good about the device to make you feel any longing for it and you start fancying your neighbors Iphone. 4) Lack of good quality accessories like screen protector, cases.

OK, I'll admit I am being a bit of a cheapskate with this thread. I was more or less thinking that I could get a new device off contract every single year this way for a little over half of what it normally costs me.

Thanks for the replies everyone, I have some food for thought now

 

[dc9super80]

I've been spending the day pouring over information about the OnePlus One android phone. It's going to launch with cutting edge hardware specs, quality build materials, and a respected version of android free of carrier and OEM bloatware -Cyanogen - and get updates directly. It's already being called significantly better than Google's nexus phones by reviewers who have it so far, and will cost less.

So here's the question. Aside from OS preference or whether you're already invested in android or iOS apps, what incentive is there to buy a $700 iphone , or android for that matter, when they're making this available contract free and unlocked for less than half the price?

I reckon those are the two reasons that drive my preference for iPhones. I don?t like Android as much as I do iOS, so it doesn?t matter how cheap the phone is, I won?t like to use it. And i have a lot invested in Apple, and I have other Apple devices and come this fall, that would matter even more.

 

[qbnkelt]

I've got an Android device and I just recently bought a Lumia 1520. I love both those devices.

BUT.....

I will use iPhones for as long as they provide me with an absolutely trouble free drama free experience. The best specs in the world don't mean a thing if you don't like the product. I *LIKE* the iPhone. The way it handles, the build, the OS, the way it works with everything else, the QUALITY of the apps, the availability of the apps....AND because the iPhone has NEVER failed me, NEVER rebooted, NEVER bricked.

IT.JUST.WORKS.

To me, that trumps everything else.

 

[Flow39]

I've got an Android device and I just recently bought a Lumia 1520. I love both those devices.

BUT.....

I will use iPhones for as long as they provide me with an absolutely trouble free drama free experience. The best specs in the world don't mean a thing if you don't like the product. I *LIKE* the iPhone. The way it handles, the build, the OS, the way it works with everything else, the QUALITY of the apps, the availability of the apps....AND because the iPhone has NEVER failed me, NEVER rebooted, NEVER bricked.

IT.JUST.WORKS.

To me, that trumps everything else.

I know pretty much every non-Apple person hates hearing that Apple products "just work", but it's the truth. I have not had one problem, other than my iPad rebooting randomly one time after I bought it and was on the early versions of iOS 7. On the other hand, some of my relatives have Android devices, and they have problems consistently. Calls and texts not going through, random reboots, apps crashing. I don't have to deal with this on iOS.

 

[the_tech_eater]

I know pretty much every non-Apple person hates hearing that Apple products "just work", but it's the truth. I have not had one problem, other than my iPad rebooting randomly one time after I bought it and was on the early versions of iOS 7. On the other hand, some of my relatives have Android devices, and they have problems consistently. Calls and texts not going through, random reboots, apps crashing. I don't have to deal with this on iOS.

Totally agree! I got so sick of hearing my mom tell me that her phone crashed, or that it was running slow(due to the app cache filling up... What the hell is that?) that I bought her an iPhone with my own money lol

 

[He123321]

I have been an Android user since the HTC Hero on the Sprint network, and would jump on every high end smartphone that was released because of specs, features and size. Them I finally woke up one day, and found myself throwing money away on phones that I was only using 50% of the specs/features. I asked myself why?

Then one day, I got my lil one the iPhone 5s. All I can say is WOW on the smoothness, screen, camera, and just all around feel of the phone. No frills, just what is needed out of a smart phone. I am waiting on the iPhone 6 to see what it has to offer, but I just might go for 5s.

So to the OP, at the end of the day its your $, and your choice... I made mine over a month ago, and I will soon be a convert, lol...

 

[qbnkelt]

Three separate 9900s, one 9930, and one 9810 left me stranded. One in the middle of my train ride home. You know what I turned to? My iPhone.

And no it was not user error.


Sent from my beautiful Gold 64G iPhone 5s using the iMore Forums app

 

[qbnkelt]

Oh I forgot about the randomly rebooting Z10 I had. With the magically draining battery.


Sent from my beautiful Gold 64G iPhone 5s using the iMore Forums app

 

[the_tech_eater]

Oh I forgot about the randomly rebooting Z10 I had. With the magically draining battery.


Sent from my beautiful Gold 64G iPhone 5s using the iMore Forums app

Gotta love those innovative magic battery brainers

 

[HAWK]

Oh I forgot about the randomly rebooting Z10 I had. With the magically draining battery.


Sent from my beautiful Gold 64G iPhone 5s using the iMore Forums app

Or even worse the older blackberrys where you had to remove the battery once a day to get it to unfreeze.


Sent from my iPhone using iMore Forums

 

[qbnkelt]

Luckily those days are behind me.

Regarding the Android devices I've run, they are wonderful BUT I prefer the polish of the iOS experience.
Specs don't mean smooth, trouble free devices.
Sent from my SUPER HOT Nokia Lumia 1520 via Tapatalk

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

I've been spending the day pouring over information about the OnePlus One android phone. It's going to launch with cutting edge hardware specs, quality build materials, and a respected version of android free of carrier and OEM bloatware -Cyanogen - and get updates directly. It's already being called significantly better than Google's nexus phones by reviewers who have it so far, and will cost less.

So here's the question. Aside from OS preference or whether you're already invested in android or iOS apps, what incentive is there to buy a $700 iphone , or android for that matter, when they're making this available contract free and unlocked for less than half the price?

The fact that it's going to have limited support, and the fact that it doesn't really have carrier backing. I know carrier influence is frowned upon at times. But in this case I'd like to have a product that my carrier supports, at least. Not just the fact that I can pop in whatever sim card.

 

[sting7k]

I've been spending the day pouring over information about the OnePlus One android phone. It's going to launch with cutting edge hardware specs, quality build materials, and a respected version of android free of carrier and OEM bloatware -Cyanogen - and get updates directly. It's already being called significantly better than Google's nexus phones by reviewers who have it so far, and will cost less.

So here's the question. Aside from OS preference or whether you're already invested in android or iOS apps, what incentive is there to buy a $700 iphone , or android for that matter, when they're making this available contract free and unlocked for less than half the price?

The OnePlus One does not meet my needs. That's why I spent $750 on an iPhone.

 

[the_tech_eater]

OnePlus?s latest marketing stunt is...8/12/oneplus-ladies-first-marketing-campaign/

 

[Davehow]

OnePlus?s latest marketing stunt is...8/12/oneplus-ladies-first-marketing-campaign/

That link code is busted, reposting it

http://bgr.com/2014/08/12/oneplus-ladies-first-marketing-campaign/
Lol just read it. These guys are pretty buffoonish, I'm gonna take a pass