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Yes, the same one that has those three cooktops-like camera bulges. Yes, with the ancient looking notch. Yes, from a company that has numerous deep and highly problematic issues.
I bought an iPhone 13 Pro.
Why move away from Android.
This thought was seeded a long time ago. I was constantly feeling frustrated with both the consequences of being pro-privacy and owning an Android phone — in tiny ways that added up.
Google also seems to have gone very funny with Android 12‘s design language. Usually I’ve enjoyed their fun-loving, colorful designs, but this is a little too…weird?
Anyway, I realized I don’t really care for all the benefits of Android anymore. My phone also ran out of its software support cycle (3 years), so it was time to move on by the end of the year. When I had asked the Fediverse earlier, seems like Pixel was the most recommended phone. Pixel 6 hasn’t launched in India. Yet.
Getting an iPhone felt like this middle-ground. A half-evil solution to living my life more care-free while being spied upon by fewer companies.
Between Google and Apple, I trust the latter more. Relatively. I could have gone for a high-end Android, and I’m sure it would have met all my needs very well.
It was time to explore something new. I’m guilty of liking it. Too much.
Why the Pro variant.
I think the regular variant is pretty good. No concerns around battery life, there. The size is okay. But the refresh rate? That’s not cutting it…
Mini is great too, but I was worried I would not be happy with the battery life and the bog-standard 60Hz refresh rate once again, in 2022 (nearly there, now, aren’t we?)
The Pro Max is huge (6.7″) and heavy (238 grams) — a direction I wasn’t particularly excited about.
That left me with the Pro — neither too small, nor too big. Pricey, a little too heavy still at 203 grams, but checking some boxes that I expect from a phone in this day and age:
- A fluid display (ProMotion, 10-120Hz refresh rate), and,
- The extra (3x) telephoto lens that doesn’t feature on Mini or the regular variants.
There’s a good chance my next phone is a Mini though, whenever that will be, for its smaller size and light weight. For the current generation, that’s 5.4″ and 140 grams (!).
A quick review.
Positives.
- Holy shit this phone is fast!
- The display is gorgeous.
- The call log is a wonderful bit of thing that I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard anyone talk about. I was as surprised as delighted. It collects all your Uber, WhatsApp, Telegram, Duo, FaceTime, voice calls and so on into one log — brilliant.
- Links from iMessage show up in Safari. Actionable. Very nice!
- Siri is smart to understand a command like “Start a video call with James on WhatsApp.” I know Siri isn’t amazing, but it’s after years of restraint that I’m taking part in the voice-assistant economy, and it’s helpful for these little things.
- The camera and video quality are miles and miles above what even premium Android smartphones offer — at least for day to day use. Would only feel unfair if this wasn’t the case, given it costs 2 to 3 times as much.
Downers.
- No dual/parallel apps. I am having to use WhatsApp Business to communicate over my public phone number.
- Scrolling/extended screenshots aren’t available outside of Safari.
- Dual SIM is actually eSIM + nano SIM. Not a big deal once you sort it out, but again, made my transition a bit harder than I’d have liked.
- No fingerprint reader. Masking up is still going to be a thing, and it’s annoying when outside to be using Face ID or a passcode.
- Charger or earphones not included. The talk about being pro-environment is bullshit.
- Background photo syncing is limited to just Apple Photos.
Adding the AirPods (3rd generation).
More recently, I sold my OnePlus Buds (the mics did not work so well for me) and my external monitor (I wasn’t using it so much). Combined with a bank offer, I was able to make a net investment of ₹6,100.00 and get these AirPods — sightly less than 1/3rd of its retail price.
I’m very happy with the audio, though there was nothing wrong with OnePlus Buds either. But especially the mic quality is really nice. No longer do I have people shouting at me that they can’t hear me or that I am not audible enough. Note that this isn’t the case with the person I sold it to – they are able to chat just fine. Likely a very subjective thing.
The fit is also slightly better than the Buds, which is very subjective again.
I have been enjoying the hardware and the operating system a lot, is all I really have to say. Most things do just work. It’s just a phone to me now. And that’s exactly what I wanted my next step to be. I’m exhausted.
Until next time.