Everyone seems to be making the switch…but I’m sticking with iPhone
Calm Down
I’m staying iPhone – and for good reasons.
Flicking through my homepage feed on YouTube, all I see is creators talking about walking away from iPhone, and switching over to Samsung, or Google.
Hands up – I have never used an Android, in fact, showing my age, the only other phone I have ever owned, apart from an iPhone was a couple of Blackberry’s – hands up who remembers those?
So, as I’ve not owned, or used a Samsung, or any kind of Android phone, I’m not going to sit here and tear them to shreds. Nope, I am going to tell you, why I’m staying iPhone, and why I’m probably more committed to them than ever before.
Work to do
I’m not saying iPhone’s are perfect, or faultless, but, for a number of reasons, they just work for me.
First, I’ll take you on a hands-on tour of my IPhone 14 Pro that I’ve used daily, since the launch weekend last year.
I’ll look at what I’ve enjoyed, and the bits where, I think, they could do better. I’ve stopped short of calling them the bad bits, as I don’t think any phones are bad now, but let’s just say the bits I’m less keen on.
Then, we’ll get around to finding out what is coming to iPhone 15 this year…getting up to date with all the latest stories and rumours that are currently doing the rounds.
Not a normal year
The schedule and pattern, this year, for product looks as if it could be all over the place.
The will-they-won’t they over the spring event, the when-will-they over the headset, and the will-they-ever with the Mac Pro is leaving more questions than answers right now about what we will actually get this year.
But…
One thing is for sure, we WILL be getting a new iPhone 15 in the fall, but, using history as our teacher, what are the areas that they need to work on before its launch.
For starters, the front. With Ceramic glass shield as standard on all iPhone 14’s, they should be almost indestructible. Yet, within days of me using mine, it got scratched. I’ve never used screen protectors on any of my phones, yet they have all been scratch free after a couple of years of use – so what is going on with the glass on the 14s?
Size wise, I wanted to get a ProMax – I like big screens, regardless of what I’m doing. That’s why I bought the Studio Display, for example.
I couldn’t get a Pro Max that first weekend, so ended up with the Pro. On reflection, that bit of bad luck, has probably turned out to be a good thing. The size of the Pro is perfect for me. As I’m normally around a Mac, I hardly ever use the phone to work on, or even surf on. It’s just there as a hub to everything else, so to give up any more pocket-size would’ve been a waste.
These phones are weighty enough as they are, so the Pro Max, with the extra glass, and general size, would’ve been even heavier and more cumbersome.
Get with the motion
The ProMotion screen gets a big yes from me. Using a phone now that’s not ProMotion, feels like a real step back in time. On my Macs, ProMotion it is not as noticeable, but on the phone, I wouldn’t want to be without it.
All that clamour for the always-on-display ended up being a bit of a wet weekend, right? I ran with it early on, but found it was hitting the battery harder than I’d expected…and I just found it plain irritating too. The fix that came along offered some improvements, so I’ve turned it back on again, in its dimmed-down state – for now at least.
The battery life is one of the phone’s weaknesses. I make it through the day on a single charge, but considering how much of the day it’s just on stand-by, and sitting on the desk, I’d have expected it to have more juice left than it does. And days when I am travelling, and away from a charger, then I do really notice how quickly it runs down.
Dynamic Island rarely even crosses my mind. I know this year, more apps and developers look like they are coming onboard with it, but honestly, I rarely even think about it, let alone use it. Very, very rarely, I’ll tap on it to bring up the podcast, or track I’m listening to – but honestly if that happens as often as once a week, I’d be surprised,
Whoops
I probably over-did the amount of storage I bought on this phone – although, in my defence, I thought at the time, I’d need it.
The main reason I bought it, was for the 4K, Pro Res video it could shoot. I’d had one arm behind my back until then, shooting all the videos for my YouTube channel on a basic iPhone 12 – not even a Pro. I’d never owned a camera, so thought I’d get the 14 Pro as the channel’s main camera.
The video quality is stunning. This was the first Pro iPhone I’d owned, and the video camera on here blew me away. So, thinking this was going to be my main camera for the channel, and knowing how big those files were going to be, and they really are, I went with 1TB of storage. Which brings me to another bugbear…getting these large video files, from the phone.
I still use the iPhone 14 Pro, for cut-away shots in my videos. So, it’s recording in ProRes, the duration of the time I’m shooting A-roll – typically about 20 minutes.
This week’s file, for instance, was 81GB, so much too large for AirDrop, and on the data speeds I have, it would take a month of Sundays for it to sync with the Photos app in the cloud. I’m stuck with using the so-slow lightning cable and transferring it via Image Capture.
Oddly though, and completely unplanned, just after I got the iPhone, I bought a Canon 90D – so all that storage is, well, going to waste. Oh well, you live and learn…
Smile please
The photo side of the camera is equally impressive.
The amount of data you capture shooting in ProRaw is epic. In Lightroom, there is so much data that you can play with in post. The results are possibly a little bit too processed, but I’m being super-picky.
The power we have in our pockets with this camera set up is, well, something we could only have dreamt of only a few years back.
iPhone 14 has been a solid phone for me over these past six months. Dodgy battery life has been its biggest let down, but outside of that, the speed, functionality, power, and convenience it brings to my day is its real strength.
What next?
Well, an improvement to data transfer should happen, as this year all models will get a USB-C port, but be careful…
The shape of the port doesn’t tell the full story. The two cheaper phones willhave a USB-C port alright, but only at speeds of the current lightning port, but, that’ll be enough to keep them in line with the new EU regs.
The two Pro Phones will have the much quicker Thunderbolt 3 ports on them. That should help with getting ProRes files off the phone, but, I guess I’ll have to wait until I get my hands on one to see how much better it really is.
I’ve wondered for ages now, is there some technical reason, or a space issue, why couldn’t we have a micro SD card slot on the Pro phones? If they are making them with pro’s in mind, and giving us the ability to shoot 4K 30FPS video, they need to take this file transfer issue far more seriously than they have so far. We need a pro workflow to go with these pro files.
New and improved
The obsession with bezels continues, and judging on various images I’ve seen on MacRumors, the bezels on the Pro phones look as if they will be much slimmer this year. Also, the edges will be more curvy on the 15, bringing it more in line with the MacBooks, and Apple Watch.
The camera, as you’d expect, is making yet another step forward on the 15 Pro’s. But, this year, not only is the divide between the non-Pro and Pro phones getting ever wider, now there will even be a line in the sand between the two Pro phones as well.
Although both phones will include telephoto lens technology as part of their three-camera array, only the iPhone 15 Pro Max will have a periscope lens that will enable 6x optical zoom.
Partly, in their defence, this could be because of the internal jigging about they’ll have to do to fit the periscope mechanism in the phone in the first place.
A periscope lens system generally uses a primary lens to capture a photo, with an angled mirror or prism reflecting the light 90 degrees toward a second lens that then sends it to the image sensor.
As that image sensor and secondary lens are positioned sideways to extend focal length, it’s that which takes up valuable space. So, maybe there just wasn’t enough physical space in the Pro to facilitate the periscope lens.
And, the sensor itself is going to get a makeover too.
According to Nikkei Asia, new sensors are coming, and they’ll be able to capture better portraits, even with strong backlighting. It seems they will have double the saturation signal in each pixel compared to the existing sensor. That should allow for more light to get through, and to cut down on the underexposure and overexposure issues.
The sensors, from Sony, will use a semiconductor architecture, which will separate out the photodiodes and transistors, putting them on individual layers. This will mostly benefit the most widely used ‘wide-camera’.
Chip time
The 15 Pro and Pro Max will be using the 3-nanometer process A17 chip, but as I wrote recently, possibly, the 3nm chip will actually have made its debut in the new MacBook Air’s by then.
It’s expected to improve processing performance in the handset by ten to fifteen percent, while also reducing power consumption by up to thirty percent. But, because the 3nm chips are pricier to make, the A17 chip will only be available in Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro models in 2023.
To help offset some of the weight I mentioned, a titanium chassis is coming to the Pro’s too. Compared to stainless steel, titanium is lighter and stronger, but it is also more expensive because it is harder and slower to work with. The final weight will also depend on the alloy that Apple uses, as, obviously, the devices won’t be made entirely from pure titanium.
It looks as if red will be the new colour this year – but not a shocking red, instead, more of a classy burgundy, or maroon red. That could look lovely, and would probably be the colour I’ll plump for – if I swap out this year.
Other changes include the switch from physical to haptic feedback, solid-state buttons which should last longer as there are no moving parts. There’ll also be improvements to the LiDAR scanner, more RAM, and quicker wi-fi.
Wrapping up
Like I said earlier, you can’t really buy a new phone that’s bad – certainly not from the main players. Equally, no phone for the foreseeable future is going to warrant changing, assuming you have a phone from the last two, or three years.
Nearly all the changes I’ve mentioned, are good, solid, incremental changes, but none that will make the 15 that much different from the iPhone 14. We are in the age of great tech, so don’t be forced in to change, for change’s sake.
Does the fact I am not interested in trying out the Samsung S23, or a Google handset make me a fanboy, or blinkered? I don’t think so.
The iPhone is at the head of the stack when it comes to my entire Apple life. The iPhone can double up as a remote control and even a keyboard for my Apple TV. It hooks up to my Apple Watch and captures my sleep and activity data.
It has Handoff to the HomePods, and FaceTime calls to the Mac. There’s AirDrop, Continuity Camera, and Image Capture.
I’m just happy with what iPhone does for me. It works – it suits me, and I’m happy with it, so why trade all that in? I am more Apple Reminders, Notes, Pages, and Numbers than I am Google Docs. I am more iCloud than I am Google Drive.
I’m not for a moment saying you shouldn’t take a look at a Samsung or Android phones – I’m sure they’re great…if they work for you!
But for me, it would just be too much of a 360º handbrake turn – and one that would have too many ripple effects to make it worth me treading down that road.
Whether I like it or not, Apple, and iPhone has got a hold of me! Bring on iPhone 15!
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