I simply canceled my Pixel 9 Professional Fold order and acquired the iPhone 16 Professional Max as a substitute – this is why
So right here’s the factor: I wish to ditch my iPhone and transfer to Android so badly, but each time I verge on making the transfer, Apple pulls me again in.
Final yr, I used a Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely for per week and actually loved it. However it was for an experiment and I used to be simply ready for the iPhone 15 Professional Max to launch. In September, titanium iPhones appeared, and identical to that I used to be again to utilizing iOS inside my ever-growing Apple walled backyard.
This yr was completely different, nevertheless, and it’s the closest I’ve ever come to saying goodbye to the iPhone for good, effectively, at the least for 12 months. After seeing the reveal of Google’s new flagship smartphones in August, I used to be immediately intrigued by the Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold. You see, up till very just lately my concept of a folding cellphone was giant gaps, peeling display protectors, and a cumbersome footprint, however that every one modified after I held a 9 Professional Fold on the retailer.
In our Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold overview, US Mobiles Editor, Philip Berne wrote, “When I showed the Pixel 9 Pro Fold to iPhone-toting friends and family they were all amazed, without fail. It’s the first foldable that looks… normal, they all said. How normal? It isn’t just that the front is the exact same size and shape as the Pixel 9. Being thin helps a lot – the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is so thin that it’s less bulky than my iPhone 15 Pro Max if I keep the iPhone in a case.”
I’ll as effectively be one in every of his mates or a member of the family as a result of that’s precisely how I felt after only a few minutes with the 9 Professional Fold. For the primary time in a very long time, it felt like I used to be holding innovation within the client tech area and I felt like a child once more. Clearly, my concept of foldables was skewed and there are heaps like Google’s providing, however when a lot of the tech you utilize outdoors of labor is “Designed by Apple in California” you lose a way of what one thing genuinely refreshing to make use of seems like. Now that’s not a diss at Apple, my Mac, my iPad, and my iPhone all work precisely how I need my know-how to work, however once you’ve used incremental updates of the identical merchandise for practically 15 years, in some unspecified time in the future you wish to see if the grass is greener on the opposite facet.
So I did it. I pre-ordered a Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold. I used to be lastly going to promote my iPhone and check out Android 15 for a yr. However then issues modified.
Groundhog Day
The Pixel 9 Professional Fold was formally launched on September 4 however my preorder with EE, one of many largest networks within the UK. by no means arrived. I waited patiently, excited to check out Google Gemini constructed into Android and get my first style of a folding smartphone with a good looking 8-inch show. For no matter motive my preorder stored getting pushed again, September 5, September 6, September 7, September 8… After which it occurred: Apple’s iPhone 16 occasion on September 9.
On the occasion, Apple showcased the iPhone 16 Professional Max alongside the remainder of the iPhone 16 lineup. The {hardware} is an incremental enchancment over my 15 Professional Max, however in our early hands-on iPhone 16 Professional Max overview, Editor At Massive, Lance Ulanoff, wrote, “The question is, can the small or even invisible changes add up to something big? Based on my brief hands-on time with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, I’d say the answer is yes.”
For me, it’s not in regards to the {hardware}, I personal 2023’s finest iPhone and it’s nonetheless a beast nearly 12 months later. As a substitute, it was Apple’s potential on the occasion to make me really feel like I couldn’t skip the primary yr of Apple Intelligence. Sure, I’ll have entry to Apple’s AI on my iPad Professional M2 and my MacBook Professional M3 Professional, however the iPhone is on the core of the Apple ecosystem and it’s arguably the smartphone expertise that may outline Apple Intelligence’s success.
AI is pivotal to the success of iOS 18 and the brand new iPhones deemed, “the first iPhones built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence”, by Apple’s CEO, Tim Prepare dinner. With incremental updates coming over the following yr, we’ll get to check out particular person Apple Intelligence options as they prepare dinner within the oven and see simply how a lot of an influence they will make on our day-to-day lives. I’m hoping at the least one in every of Apple’s AI instruments is as helpful as Common Clipboard, fairly presumably my favourite Apple characteristic which permits me to repeat and paste between all my merchandise.
iPhone 16 Professional Max preorders are actually reside and but once more, I’ve bought a brand new Apple smartphone to gather on launch day. I got here so near taking a leap of religion into Android, however inventory delays, the concern of the unknown, and Apple’s potential to make you’re feeling FOMO hooked me again in. I’m excited for a yr of Apple Intelligence and I can’t wait till Siri has on-screen consciousness to change into the private assistant in my pocket I’ve all the time needed it to be. In round 11 months this cycle repeats itself, solely subsequent time Apple Intelligence will probably be much less of an unknown and Google Gemini could be the best way ahead.
