Apple, we're breaking up.

Is it bye forever?

When you are into tech as much as me, having been to college for it, built a small business around it (and failed), pride yourself on keeping up with trends and technology, and hand build and tweak several custom PC's in our home, you would think I would be on the bleeding edge.. and I thought I was as well. What makes me qualified? I watch Bladerunner and Hackers several times a year, listen to obscure 80's alternate German soundtracks to popular movies, and spend a ton of time in front of a screen. Any screen really, I'm on my phone all the time. I have several laptops in use weekly from work to play, several tablets and micro PC's, and I have the title of Director of IT at my current job, among others. I should be able to identify when a product is aging out, but this time it missed me and I'll tell you why.

Experience luxury in our all new Apple I-Flush 9000

    I see a ton of reviews and articles out there talking about the "Walled Garden" of Apple products, and I understand what they are talking about, being a fan of the book and movie, A Secret Garden. What you don't know outside of those walls you won't miss, and if you never have the urge to peek over the wall confines of the garden, then why change? I found myself in that boat, and I didn't even know I was there. From what starts as getting a product because it has new and exciting features that are thrilling and satisfying, to be totally satisfied by consistency and something that works really well. I don't want new or thrilling unless is shoved in my face, and shoved it was.

Well would you look at that; Difference. Comparison. 

At work, everyone is moving from iPhone over to Android based phone. Not only is the screen bigger, but some come with stylus', some have a mini screen on the back, some flip open to a second screen, and some even fold out, showing a tablet inside. This is not a new feature and has been out for a few years. The phone above is the Z Fold 6 by Samsung, and as it number states, this is the sixth iteration of the phone and the most modern. A brewer flipped this out in front of me and showed me how it works, with the front screen that was as big as my Iphone 13 Pro Max, then opening up to a not-so-small tablet. He proceeded to open two apps at the same time while watching a Youtube video, then folden it half so I could keep watching the video on one screen while he played around on the other side with his email. The sound was incredible, the speed surpassed anything I've seen, and everything was flatter and thinner than my iphone with only one screen and an ugly notch at the top. I was due for an upgrade as my battery is getting below the 80% mark, which means I have to charge it now during the day.

Like little soldiers all lined up.

I went to the phone store. I should note that my current Iphone is paid off, and I use an outside service, but I wanted to see what was out there. I played with the new 16 Pro Max, and like my last upgrade, saw no visual or speed differences at all, with the exception of the reduced notch at the top. Size, same. Operating system, the same. The sales rep said I could use AI to create my own Emoji's now, something that I have no interest in doing. Cameras? From what I could tell without looking at a spec sheet? The same. I asked to see the Z Fold 6 and I got see them in a display environment side by side. It felt slick and modern. It opened from the middle and felt like a well oiled piston. No bezels to speak of, and the buttons had that Mercedes Benz heavy click of quality when pressed. I was told the cameras are actually better than the Iphones, but the processer was slightly behind the iphone, but it felt MUCH faster opening apps, which could just be better optimization. Overall the screens were brighter and reeked of high class build quality. Watching a youtube video felt like a whole new experience on both of the camera screens and was the peak of innovation. I left the phone store knowing I would be ordering this phone when I got home. 

There is already a clear winner, but time will tell.

     The new phone comes in Monday and I'll be switching over. You can see that the 16 Pro max is slightly wider, but Z Fold 6 is bezeless, so seems similar in size. I have big hands, but always struggled getting my hand over to the other side of the screen to the top corner, so I don't think I'll miss that 3mm in width at all at the end of the day. With an otterbox on it, the Pro Max was always huge in my pocket, so the size and weight difference should be welcome. In the big picture of things, the switch comes with some regret, as I've been with Iphones since the iPhone 4, have used an Iwatch and Apple headphones since the beginning. The reason for the change is just lack of innovation and technology advancement. Gone are the days of paying a premium price for something with far less features and capabilities. Going up 3 generations of iPhones just did not feel like an upgrade at all with everything just seeming too similar, and I would be paying $1000 out of pocket for the trade in for what I would only experience having a new phone with fresh battery life. It's my money, and I'm going to spend it how I want, and I want fresh and exciting again. 

Edit - One week test Drive: I like it so far. It was a struggle right at the jump to find something as easy like the camera, but most of the gestures seem to be the same. The back, home, and app buttons are really easy to get to like, and the side button with the fingerprint scanner is great all around. Face recognition works about 75% of the time, but the fingerprint reader works every time, and I set it for multiple fingers. Making folders and getting things the way I like them was about an hour of trial and error. The size is really perfect, and I can reach everything. Its VERY responsive, and everything loads quickly and nothing has crashed. I'm still getting used to the texts, copying and pasting, and saving files. I don't regret the change, I think it was time, and I'm having a ton of fun with it. 

Pros so far

• The camera and the options that come with it for pictures and video is far superior in comparison to the iphone. Pro mode is insane. The number of cameras and and you can record on all of them at the same time? Crazy.
• The OS is easy to use
• Loading times are reduced
• Table mode is crazy. I don't use it much, but when I do, it's wonderful.
• Opening multiple apps on the same screen is great.
• Unlocked software so I can run emulators.. chefs kiss.
• Gaming is great
• No notch or any visible camera hole on any screen
• No bezels
• Feels like a oiled machine.. like a gun or something. Metal and sturdy, feels quality.
• The sound is by far better. At full volume its super loud and clean.

Cons so far

• Battery life is no better or worse. Use the fold out screen and it depletes quickly
• Finding apps that I want in the moment is a learning curve
• Camera preview FPS is a little slower than the iphone but the output is superior
• Case sticks out a little from the screen (otterbox) and it can be tough hitting buttons on the edge
• Keyboard is has smaller buttons, but I learned it can be adjusted without issue
• Spacebar is right next to the back button, so I accidentally hit it pretty often
• Opening the phone can take a few tries sometimes because I'm not use to it. Face recognition is not perfect, and I'm not use to pressing a button to open it. No real issue, just a learning curve.
• Getting it paired to the watch was good, but took some masaging to get it right. Now that it's paired, the watch lasts a week on a charge easily, has more features than an apple watch, and looks better as well. 
• The phone vibrates too hard, and I have no clue how to lower it
• Even on the lowest screen brightness, its too bright at night sometimes when playing around in bed on it
• No issues when rotating, but every iPhone i've ever had there is some kind of small issue with rotating the phone in any mode, sometimes even getting stuck like that until turning the phone off and on again
• texting is going to be my biggest gripe. I just need to time to get it right as there are more options and things can you can do customize the experience.