My previous job had given me an iPhone 7 Plus because they used all Apple and were paying the bill. When CCP Virus hit, they still had my number on their plan, and so when I left, they just let me stay on it for a while. Recently they have not been doing any better, so I took back my number and wanted to take the opportunity to update my phone. I used to always get the Google released phone because I had fewer problems with them. But I now feel better about the quality of the Apple iPhone.
I spent some time looking over the iPhone 11 vs. 11 Pro Plus. The only significant difference I can see is the screen size is slightly bigger along with the display type and the extra camera on the pro. I did not feel the need to spend more on the pro, not to mention you must jump up to 256GB of storage, adding more cost. The standard iPhone 11 next to the 7 plus feel almost the same size, so I do not feel like I lost anything.
So far, the new phone works almost the same. There are a few things that I think I notice about running the OS and apps, they do seem to load or jump up faster. But with no home button, some things take more time to do, such as switch apps, or if the bedtime mode is active, I have to dismiss and then slide open past the lock.
FaceID is kind of nice because you do not have to touch anything. But it can have problems when it does not see you well, and with all the mask nonsense, it does not know who I am with a mask, and I end up putting in a code. I may be able to teach it my face with a mask, but that’s super lame.
So, I do almost feel like I did not gain much by getting a new iPhone. Yes, it has better chips and screens. The iPhones do not feel fresh in software. The camera is much better, and I want to do some more testing. We are getting to the point that most new phones do not change much. When the software is the same, it makes the problem even more noticeable. I notice the battery life, as that 4-5-year-old iPhone 7 was only saying it had 87% but was getting low at the end of the day, not leaving WiFi.
But when you move phones, the major hassles are getting apps set back up. Some require logins or restoring data. Some even store everything on the phone that is not great. Yes, you can make the move or restore from another phone option that iPhones seem to do much better than Androids. I chose to start fresh, which may not have been the best, but I do not store anything on the phone, so it worked out fast enough.
I move Android phones about every 1-2 years. Sometimes it was just the fact they would stop booting (happened to 4 different phones). But the fact the iPhone 7 is still running shows something. On Windows, I reset the OS every year or so because it gets filled with stuff that makes it slow too. It is also an excellent time to update some hardware, but not rebuild the entire thing. I had never needed to reset the iPhone. I did a reset of my iPad, but that was when the screen shattered, and it was being sent in for replacement.
The iPhone 11 will probably be updated soon, but I am ok with not the newest anymore. A few years ago, you would not see me saying iPhone seems better than Android, but I do like them now. I expect to slowly move my family over to iPhone so that things are the same as mine. I got my kids on iPads last Christmas, and they have been solid tablets for them. I am sure there will be something I did not move over right or an app I missed but not a big problem. I am happy with it. I just need to find a case I like and get the camera figured out.
