this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2024
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I'm about to drop a really dumb question in here:
Why do so many people dislike Apple? I have listed some of my problems with Apple (listed in no particular order):
However, I really don't understand why people, ordinary people, dislike Apple, other than due to being overpriced. I mean I really think physical SIM cards are a thing of the past and less secure than eSIMs since you can't just take a physical SIM out using a pin. Although I heavily dislike the provisioning of USB 2.0 in 2024, the reality is that most of my files, even on my Android device, are transferred via networks. And yes, for the point about battery, I don't particularly care about the battery size as much as I do the battery life. Even then, I always have a charger in my bag. It also helps that I barely use my phone.
Once again, keep in mind this is from someone whose only Apple product is a Macbook.
I can understand hating on Apple as a company, I was furious at how long they took to throw USB-C on things, however, often times people provide arguments that are baseless, as are several "points" listed in this image.
Who cares about a physical capture button? Any professional required to use a camera for a living will not be using an iPhone. Who cares about physical SIM vs eSIM. Hell, I'm an advocate for eSIMs. Who cares about the unlockable bootloader? And really, with modern consumerism, who on earth is listening to hi-res wireless audio and not a song off of Spotify, YouTube, etc?
I agree with the 120 Hz point, there is no reason a flagship phone at a a flagship price should not provide a smooth refresh rate. I partially agree with the storage point, however, the vast majority of people do not take advantage of their phone's storage, so why would Apple be competitive here? They try to optimise for profit. I definitely agree with the point about the lack of modern USB. The lack of the 3.5mm headphone jack kinda sucks for everyone who owns devices that cannot be used with phones without this jack.
I'm opening to listening to other people's takes and discussing this with them.
for me the point about being locked into an ecosystem is reason enough.
Some more on that:
I just want to own my phone man
And let's not forget their anticompetitive practices
The decision not to include hi-res audio support out of the box is more baffling when you learn that Apple Music in its basic package offers high-quality lossless audio for streaming. Why have this, and make your users jump through extra hoops to take advantage of it?
To answer your overall question, I am one of the Apple dislikers and with me it comes down to openness and customizability (I like to tinker with my electronics and computing devices, and I can do that much better with an Android device), and not wanting most of my money that I spend for the product I'm buying to go to marketing.
Sorry for the late reply.
I understand now why the decision not to include hi-res audio support out of the box is baffling. However, in your second comment you present customisability as a negative when in reality, it's more of a trade-off. The more options you present to a user the more complex the system you have to deal with.
Sure, I respect and agree with your opinion regarding openness, and agree with the fact that Apple's ecosystem is closed af. However, the point about customisability is a trade-off and imho a preference.
I've worked as a back-end developer (C++), so it's not that I don't know how to use technology or am afraid of learning or something along those lines. That said, there is a certain amount of elegance to simplicity and consistency, which I value.
And yes, I do currently use an Android device, which does have some custom gestures setup, custom icon packs, some applications which are not available via the Google Play Store. However, I really do believe that the point about customisation is a trade-off, and in my view "more customisation better" does not scale well; allow me to provide you with a simple example.
Suppose we could control every little detail regarding our device's software (non-malicious), almost as if we had the source code, I believe people would struggle to access generally easily-accessible settings (such as accessibility settings). Furthermore, these settings likely (but not necessarily) would not apply consistently, and the lack of implication from settings (but greater control), might mean that someone might need to reconfigure each application for accessibility features, or have to accept the idea that they cannot fine-tune different applications for their accessibility requirements.
Lastly, to your point about marketing, you have presented a very logical and reasonable point, yet one I consider almost invalid, since we should be observing this through the lens of a consumer. They could choose to sell their phones at a loss despite spending a lot on marketing. I'm not saying it's viable, but I'm saying it's possible. However, the point I'm trying to make is that this isn't relevant. We observe through the lens of a consumer. And so we look at the price we have to pay and judge the device's "features" or whatever you'd like to call them, objectively or relatively, based on this price.
In summary:
By the way, thought I'd clarify my stance on this, since I'm not an Apple fanboy, is that I prefer Apple to other tech giants (Google is an obvious choice for an example).
Thanks for your comprehensive reply.
First off, I am not an Apple hater. I see merit in their products, especially for non-techie users. But I don't see myself using any of them.
Yes, customizability is a trade-off, one which I am not willing to make :) For me personally it justifies the choice of a different product. I'm not only including launchers and icon packs in this, it's for example much easier to install e.g. an alternative YouTube frontend on an Android than on iOS, or to use an alternative app store (I'm assuming Android doesn't have anything like F-Droid or Obtainium, both of which I use to get free and mostly open-source Android apps). You could say that's a trade-off again, which it is, but I believe I should have the freedom to make that choice. It's not like I couldn't stay in the confines of Google's ecosystem and have a largely similar experience to a closed off Apple-like system, it's just that I don't want to. But perhaps I've strayed from customizability back into the openness territory with this argument.
If I understood your example about fine-grained and extensive customization, I think you've identified these possible challenges:
I think both of these can be solved by the manufacturer of the OS. Google has been streamlining their settings menu with every new version of Android and extensive developer guidelines about how to make 3rd party applications consistent with the rest of the system are now the standard. In other words, I believe ease of use and consistency don't have to be at odds with customizability, in fact they can reinforce and improve each other (example: setting a system-wide color tint that is then applied in all supported applications).
Slight tangent here, talking about consistency makes me think of another thing. I don't know how it is today, but when I last tried using an iPhone, there was no consistent way in apps to go "Back" from an activity. Most of them had a top-left arrow that took you back, but definitely not all, and the experience was all over the place. Sometimes you had to swipe right, sometimes press an arrow in the bottom left for some reason.. For all the talk about iOS's consistency, it was not a consistent experience at all, and I believe Android had it figured out much better (not to mention that having a Back button on the bottom makes much more sense, esp. with larger screens).
And lastly to the marketing point. Look, I know the reality of selling a product is paying a lot for marketing so that you can actually sell it. I understand that. I am just psychologically resistant to ads (I am less likely to buy something I see an ad for), and I hate giving into trends. I think it's part of my particular flavor of neurodivergence. And since having an iPhone is promoted as trendy and a status symbol or whatever, and seeing people give into that hype, that just makes me unlikely to ever buy one, and psychologically resistant to supporting these marketing practices with my money. Plus, the larger the corporation in general, the less likely it is to get a lot of my money if I have other choices.
There are more reasons than I have time to type out, but I am a long time mac and iDevice user. What's got me raging lately is how, out of spite over a (justified, imo) EU ruling, apple is refusing to let EU customers access the newest toys in the playground. I'm in the process of transferring over to Android right now, I just havent found the right phone for me, yet.
I generally agree with you but as someone who can't hear the compression in a good quality mp3 I can definitely hear when Bluetooth is using an older audio encoding protocol because it compresses the music to hell and back
There are a few video on YT from reputable creators highlighting malpratices Apple does on a yearly basis to rip you off in every way imaginable. Louis Rossmann and Hugh Jeffreys have done some "compilation" videos on that topic. To point you to a quick one, search for "Astonishing Anti Repair Pratcices by Apple in the last 15 years" by Hugh. If you value yourself, don't buy Apple products.
For me it was the pure ridiculousness of trying to pass documents back and forth with one person in the group using a Mac. Maybe Apple is better about universal document file types these days but that was it for me. I was never going to contribute to an ecosystem that created that level of disruption.
#4 is the reason I never bought into apple. Also, the users are a little cultish.
In my opinion apple doesn’t provide great value for the hardware and they’re lacking on the repair front. But when it comes to software, it’s so far and away better that I can’t justify staying on android. I mean forget about iMessage but go watch apples recent event and ask yourself how many of those features have parity on android. Very very few of them do. And androids watch OS is a joke and always has been.
Like yes the apple ecosystem sucks to be stuck in, but it’s also a strength if you embrace it. Nothing like those interactions between devices exist elsewhere. And the only other thing is configuration but it’s a minor pain point, not something I’d decide an OS on. It’s not that iPhone just works, it’s that it works at all. Many features on android aren’t widely supported and often get abandoned. Android just adds and adds more useless things every year without the refinement they need to focus on imo.
Pretty simple: Pretending to deliver the latest tech for a premium price. But the non-pro models simply don't have the latest tech, but they do have the premium price. And Apple practices upselling like no other (I mean, look at those storage upgrade prices).
no you got a point. i think your listed problems are the main problems you can have. with the hefty price and the "elite" vibe they sell in ads and so on, its really easy to hate. hateing apple feels like punching up.
and (most) android users dont realise that instead of beeing in apples eco system they are "trapped" in googles. I apprechiate apple for them not just blatently selling personal data, recorded from my phone. I also think in terms of polish there is no competiton. whoever used both, iphone and android phone, cant deny that ios is just far more polished. everything just works.
I personally dont like the apple proprietary ecosystem, but with no really good open source phone os, they are the best alternative on the marked atm. i dont know about laptops.
How are we trapped in Google? It's a burden to move if I wanted to, but I can interface with everyone except apple just fine.
I think their point is that nearly every other phone is in the Android ecosystem, isn't it?
There isn't really an Android ecosystem if you think about it. All Android devices can seamlessly communicate with Apple devices except maybe when it comes to APK's
Oh. In that sense yeah. But most of us are also trapped on earth under that logic. I do think we need some more competition in the operating system market but I'm not sure who could pull it off. Even Microsoft bounced off of it. There is Graphene but it's a tiny sliver of the market.
i am unsure what you mean about not interfaceing with apple? I heard in america imessage is a big thing that prevents that, but the rest of the world doesnt really use it. and besides there are many messangers that let you interface.
also i mean the burden to move. the burdon to leave the alphabet system is just as hard as the apple system imo. its just annoying both dont make it easy for any cross useage.
Edit: just wanna make clear i am not an apple apologist. i heavily prefer open source alternatives and use them whereever i can. i just dont get how people act as if andeoid/google/ect. are better or even good alternatives.
I agree it's hard to leave any ecosystem. But while Apple maintains you don't need any cross connection; Android, Microsoft, and (to an extent) Linux all play nice with each other.