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A debate as old as time. Which platform is better? The iPhone or Android? Of course, there’s really no right answer, and both platforms have their advantages over the other. But why exactly is the iPhone better than Android? That’s something we’re going to explore today, because there is a real argument here for the iPhone being better.
A couple of years ago, I bought an iPhone 12 Pro. After having used Android since 2009, and reviewed almost every single Android phone made in that time, I had grown bored of Android and wanted to try something new. Now, three years later, I’m on the iPhone 14 Pro and don’t see myself going back. So the reasons for why the iPhone is better, are things that I have found out myself.
While I do typically use two phones (right now, the iPhone 14 Pro and Pixel Fold), my main SIM card is in the iPhone. And no it’s not because of iMessage. It’s mainly because if I want to bring one phone only, it’s gonna be the lighter weight one, and the one with better battery life and the one that doesn’t overheat. Which is the iPhone.
Apple Silicon is more efficient
One of the big advantages that the iPhone has over Android is, Apple Silicon. Not this has been a pretty big topic with Macs lately, as Apple transitioned away from Intel to its own chipsets for its computers. But Apple has been making its own chipsets for its iPhone since the iPhone 4S. So it’s not new to this at all.
And because Apple is in control of the iPhone from top to bottom, it is able to build a chipset that is very efficient for the platform. Versus Android where OEMs basically need to use what’s available from Qualcomm, Samsung, and MediaTek.
Year-after-year, Apple’s latest chipset for the iPhone outdo the latest from Qualcomm and others. Now, that gap has started to close a bit with Qualcomm moving over to TSMC. But Apple still has a lead here.
While I do despise benchmarks, they are useful here. And as you can see in the image above, the iPhone beats the Galaxy S23 Ultra (which has Qualcomm’s latest chipset, and it’s even overclocked) in Geekbench 6. Both in the single and multi-core tests.
This is really just a product of Apple making a chipset for one specific phone. Versus Qualcomm making a chipset that is set to power hundreds, if not thousands of phones. With very many different configurations.
Longer OS support, faster OS updates
When it comes to the operating system, Apple beats Android in two ways here. First off, Apple supports its phones much longer. This year, they just dropped support for the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X. These phones are six years old. And while they did drop support for them, so they won’t get iOS 17, they will continue to get security updates when needed.
Then you compare this to Android, and it’s a struggle to find phones that will get OS updates past 3-4 years. Even Google is only offering three years of OS updates (four years of security updates). It’s a big problem for Android, and one that likely will never be figured out.
The other side is faster OS updates. When Apple releases iOS 17 in September, it will instantly be available to billions of devices. From the iPhone XS through the iPhone 14 series. All on the same day, there’s really no waiting, other than for the servers to actually download the update. As these are big updates and the servers are getting hit by billions of devices, it can take some time.
Meanwhile, on Android, when Google releases Android 14 in September, it’ll be available for Pixel the same day (maybe). And that’s it. From September to December, we’ll see a number of phones getting the update, with Samsung likely being first to push it out. But that’s a far cry from getting the update the same day as it launches.
iMessage
If you talk to any Apple user, they will say they can’t live without iMessage. But then again, that’s really only a thing in the US. Text messaging isn’t really a thing outside of the US, or North America. Most other countries use messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram and others. This is likely because carriers outside of the US did not offer unlimited texting, so most people used something that was free.
As an iPhone user for three years now, I can’t say that iMessage is a must-have feature for me. It’s cool and all, and I really don’t care that some people I text come up as a green bubble. But others do care quite a bit. Including Apple, who has been resistant to adding this to Android, because they see it as a lock in to keep people on the iPhone.
Google has been trying to pressure Apple into supporting RCS, however, Google can’t even get the carriers to universally adopt it. In fact, there are problems with RCS on its own wireless carrier – Google Fi.
Apps come to iOS first
This isn’t quite the big deal it was a few years ago. But most of the time, new apps and games come to iOS first. Why? Well it’s pretty simple, from a developers standpoint. Imagine you are a single developer or have a very small team and budget and are building an app. Are you going to build an app for Android that requires a lot more work due to the many different screen sizes, processors, storage, etc. Or spend less time and build an app for iOS that really only uses two different screen sizes and all use Apple’s own processors. It’s pretty simple, and you’ll be available to a much larger audience that way.
Here’s just a few apps that landed on iOS first, and then came to Android months later: Super Mario Run, HQ Trivia, Monument Valley 2, Affinity Photo and even Snapchat. Heck, Instagram was even iOS only for a number of years. It really didn’t land on Android until Facebook bought it in 2012.
No bloatware
Perhaps the single biggest reason to get an iPhone is – no bloatware.
Though, that’s entirely true. When you first setup your iPhone, there’s a number of Apple apps pre-installed. However, the majority of these can be installed. There are a few that can’t, like Safari, the App Store, etc. But most things can be uninstalled. That’s not the case on Android. Most of them cannot be uninstalled.
Also, on Android, you have carrier bloat – at least in the US. You’ll find, especially on a Verizon device, there’s an entire folder full of Verizon apps. There’s usually a good 10 or more apps from Verizon included. On top of that, if you get something other than a Pixel, then you have all of Google’s apps as well as your OEM’s apps.
For instance, on a Samsung device. You get bloatware from Google, Samsung and your carrier. So it comes pre-installed with potentially 50 apps that you don’t need or want.
Privacy built-in
A feature that Apple has really been touting over the last few years on the iPhone, is privacy. It’s actually what got me to seriously consider an iPhone.
Apple is really the only smartphone company that doesn’t collect and sell your data, or use it for selling ads. Remember, Google is an ad company, so using a phone from Google means you’re just giving them access to more data to serve up more ads. Apple doesn’t do that. They do collect some data, but nowhere near as much as Google.
On top of that, Apple has also introduced a feature that will keep apps from tracking you. The first time you open an app, you’ll be greeted with a pop up to allow the app to track you. Most people select “ask not to track”. This is actually a big deal, Facebook reported that Apple’s change here cost them $10 billion per year.
Apple does have a few other features that are included for privacy. Like Private Relay, which is technically just a VPN, but it’s part of iCloud+ (which is as little as $0.99 per month). It also helps to keep apps and websites from tracking you and where you are. There’s also “Hide my email”. Which is exactly what it sounds like. It allows you to create a random email address for things and it forwards to the email linked to your Apple ID. So if you start getting a lot of spam at that email, just turn it off and boom all that spam is gone. This is a feature that I use a lot. I have probably 50 different email aliases with Hide My Email, because I use it whenever I sign up for something.
The Apple ecosystem
The Apple ecosystem, or as some call it, the “walled garden”, is undefeated. Apple does such a good job at making sure all of its products work well together. For instance, AirDrop. It’s a feature that I use all the time to transfer files from my MacBook Air to my iPhone 14 Pro. Other features include the ability to copy something on your iPhone and paste it on Mac or iPad, and so much more.
There’s also continuity. So if you were editing a doc in Pages on your Mac, you can then open Pages on your iPhone or iPad and continue editing it. iCloud works to keep everything in sync too. That includes backups, photos, documents and so much more. Giving you access to all of your stuff on any Apple device.
Apple’s Customer Support
Finally, Apple’s Customer Support. The biggest advantage that Apple has over Android is, the very many stores it has around the world. There are 272 stores in the US and 526 across the world, in 26 countries. Meanwhile, Google has like 3 stores, all in New York City. So naturally, Apple is able to provide better customer support in store than Google, or any other brand.
I’ve experienced Apple’s stellar customer support a few times. When I was in college, I spilled an entire glass of water on my MacBook Pro. I did have AppleCare, but it did not cover water damage back then (this was around 2010). I took it into my local Apple Store, and was upfront with them that yeah, I spilled water on it. The tech said that they typically don’t cover water damage, but they will this one time. Now this meant that they needed to send it out to be fixed. So I was without a laptop for a few days.
It was sent out, and returned to me in about 3-4 days, which was really impressive, since it went across the country to Texas. But when I got it back, the entire laptop had been replaced, and all of my data was loaded onto the new hard drive, from my old one. I was so impressed, considering I paid exactly $0 for this repair. Since then, I’ve never bought any non-Mac as a computer.
Now sure, some will argue that this is a small expense for Apple to keep a customer and get them to buy more products in the future. But even if it is, so what? They actually take care of their customers. When I was in College, I had a Dell Inspiron 13, which had overheated and fried the entire inside of the laptop, less than 6 months after it was bought. Dell basically gave me the middle finger. Do you think I ever bought another Dell laptop? Nope. They lost a customer for good, because of that decision to not honor the warranty.
And I have a few more stories about how great Apple’s customer support really is. But I won’t bore you with those here.