After over ten years...

[Rainmaker]

of running Android devices - mostly Nexus and rooted/flashed Samsung devices - I've joined you on the dark side. Tonight I ordered an iPhone 7 Plus 128GB in black (matte) on EE's 4G Max (25GB) plan. I was six months early upgrading but they did me a deal I'm happy enough with.

It's a 12 monthly upgrade plan (if you wish) basically the same as Apple's but with no AppleCare+, and airtime thrown in. I was going to go direct with Apple but I just couldn't find anything close in cost. To get the same deal via Apple I'd need to find a 4G+ SIM with >25GB data, unlimited calls and texts (Europe wide) and still cost less than £20 a month. I'm thinking keep the 7 Plus 12 months, and then see what next year's keynote brings.

I've enjoyed Android mostly and it does suit my workflow and style (especially when I was tinkering with ROMs). Having the ability to load an SSH client, terminal emulator and torrent/nzb client on your phone is also pretty cool. Especially when it has a 2k screen, massive battery and all that jazz. Thing is though, and I can't believe I've reached this conclusion, I'm getting older.

I'm mid-30s with two young babies, and my daily sanity comes from time on my 13" MBP i5 2.5, 16GB DDR, 250GB SSD (mid-2012, due an upgrade!). It suits me to a tee, and I even prefer it over my Linux boxes these days. Ironically, for the same reason I'm now awaiting an iPhone - they just work. I can spend hours working, chasing kids around, and just pick up my phone and browse, check email and take the odd impromptu photo. That's basically it.

I don't 'need' an infinitely customisable device any more, but I do need stability, speed, a nice UI, a good ecosystem, and timely security updates. I am getting more and more frustrated with Android (brand ROMs), for example my S6 - which is still immaculate like all my tech - is still several versions behind the current Android release, and still hasn't had a patch for Dirty Cow. Don't hold your breath waiting.

Simplicity, usability and reliability are now what I value. Don't tell my 20 year old self, he'd jump off a bridge once he'd finished compiling a kernel. So yeah. I'm an iSheep now. Or something. Cool starry bra. Question... I have a Tech21 case on my phone (S6) atm, and it's saved it from half a dozen or so 6' drops onto concrete. Not a single mark on it, it's immaculate. I saw Apple sell Tech21 cases for the 7 Plus, but their own leather one looks sooo nice. Is the leather case really that bad at protecting the hardware? It doesn't look ideal, but...?

 

[Rainmaker]

With the EE upgrade plan you have to hand back the old phone (it has to be in good condition), and you have to sign up to a new 24-month plan, of equivalent or higher value.

No thanks. They are basically getting you on an endless treadmill that will be very expensive to get off.

£65 x 24 isn't any more expensive than anything else I can find, in fact it's rather cheaper. There's no need to upgrade after 12 months if you don't wish to. Going to Apple direct (phone only) is £45 x24, and I certainly couldn't find a SIM deal for less than £20/month with any decent amount of data.

Buying the phone outright (cash or interest free credit card) and getting a pay monthly sim works out £3 a month cheaper... if I accept 20GB a month less data allowance. Otherwise the price is the same or worse.

 

[Rainmaker]

On EE SIM only I can get 12GB data for the price of 25GB on contract, and the monthly SIM doesn't come with full EU calls, texts and data roaming. A similar SIM only deal on Three (12GB data, unlimited everything else) is £26 for 12 months or £29 rolling monthly.

Again I really don't see where the massive saving is tbf. At best I can save a tenner a month to get a quarter of the data and/or call restrictions and no roaming. A few people have commented on the price, but nobody has yet linked to a cheaper comparative SIM deal (or indeed commented on the point of my post, which was the switch to Apple). If anyone actually knows a cheaper way to get the phone (including SIM package) please do link me. Not much point just telling me it's expensive to have a flagship phone; that I already know!

 

[Rainmaker]

... After over ten years...
Android has been out since before iOS?

Enjoy the new phone - You're doing what I did with Windows. I was a tinkerer, I played with things, I used to tweak for the best performance, mess around with customisation and all that sort of thing. I eventually realised I was wasting my time and just wanted to use the computer.

Same goes with my phone. Apart from a very brief spell when I jailbroke one of my iPhones, I've simply never felt the need.

After three kids it certainly feels like ten years! You got my point, at least, however. Time is precious, and what little spare nerdy time I do get, I like to spend playing in my virtual machines, tweaking my network stuff etc. It's nice to just turn on a machine, use it, and have it disappear behind what I actually want to do with it. As I said, I'm getting old.

 

[Rainmaker]

And @Rainmaker, to get to your original point, I fully appreciate why you've decided to switch. As I grow older, I definitely have less patience and time for tinkering. I just want stuff to work seamlessly.

The other day I was considering a Hackintosh, and then I started reading forum posts about it, and realised what a complete and utter pain in the patootie it would be in the short and long term.

I did similar recently and decided I needed an iMac for the living room haha. Point taken on the maths fail, I was lucky enough to last sleep two days ago... But I did do the sums (properly ) when I took out the contract and knew I was happy with them. I know it's a couple of hundred quid over the term but again it's convenience and features, and £10 a month is pocket change in the scheme of things.

As I said the nearest deal (even on Three with only 8GB data) only saves me a tenner. Not worth the hassle when I can rest assured I have a plan with everything I can ever need for not much extra. I'm in hospital a lot so I use the tethering (which you can do for your full allowance on EE), and we are hitting Europe twice a year so I do get use of it. I paid £20 just to access my data allowance abroad last month!

As an aside, can anyone comment on my original question about the cases? The Apple leather one looks lovely but I'm not particularly confident in its drop protection compared to the Tech21 case or similar... Cheers, from a very sleep deprived Rainmaker!

 

[Rainmaker]

I've had the Apple leather cases on my last 2-3 iPhones, and it's great. I mean if you drop it from a ridiculous height, then you're probably going to get a dent in the corner (if that's what it lands on). But my iPhones always emerge completely intact at the end of the year I normally keep them for.

It's insured anyway so that sounds like a good enough compromise. I'll have to check them out in person and make a decision. Thanks very much for your input and advice. I'm itching to get my hands on it now.

 

[Rainmaker]

I've had the handset a couple of days now, and I have to say I wasn't prepared for quite how much I'd actually love it. The specs on paper don't do it justice whatsoever. Fantastic bit of kit, and I'm actually shocked at how instantly it loads websites!

I've already upgraded my iCloud and swapped my Google Drive stuff over. Brilliant integration and I'm very pleased I made the change. As for the case, after visiting the Apple Store I ended up with a silicon case (Apple) at their recommendation. It's enough protection without being too cumbersome, and is super grippy (I have arthritis). I'm going to swap my bank's phone insurance to AppleCare+ as it's better to keep it all in house I think.

One thing that really has surprised me is the battery life. I always was given the impression iPhone batteries were awful. On flagship Android phones you can pretty much expect 4 hours screen on time (give or take), and that was quit easily manageable with fast charge. The iPhone having no fast charge was a worry, but I was so far off the mark it's actually ludicrous. I fully charged it last night, after having unboxed it and then using it for the day. I took it off charge early this morning and spent the day tweaking and playing away, streaming music most of the time, browsing, installing apps, playing with the camera etc etc. I was also connected to a VPN most of the time (which destroys battery on Android). I've just come to up to bed now at 10pm, and the phone is showing 16h standby, >5 hours screen time, and I have 55% battery remaining. Witchcraft. I did turn off background sync for unnecessaries like YouTube, Facebook, etc and I have the screen on auto / fairly low, but still.

Thanks again to all for your advice.