I have just adopted into the Apple eco system not long ago with my first Macbook. And now, I'm switching from my android phone to iPhone. The reason? Well, it is actually not that complicated. The local telco is offering some very good bundle plans for the iPhone. So... I'd got myself one and experience myself to see what's the hype others are shouting about
First, let's talk a little bit on the hardware. The iPhone 5 is indeed the phone with best built quality ever existed... you will like it at first touch. The mix of glass and aluminium back is very nice to hold, giving you the premium feeling. It feels just like the Macbook Pro's unibody aluminium casing, sleek and smooth. It is slightly taller than iPhone 4S, which a lot of people has been making fun about it. Well, honestly I do feel that it looks better with current dimension as compared to the 4S. On the inside, people may start to mumble that it does not have the fastest processor, not the most cores, not the best graphics, not the best camera, not the best ram and etc. Indeed these are the things that possible to change how you feel when operating the device, but if the available specification is already more than enough to drive for great user experience, why do you need more? The same applies to iPad as well.
I guess the main thing for Apple product is not always the spec, is about the eco system, as well as the user experience, in which, Apple has already found the winning formula with its iOS. After using both iOS and Android for some time, I feel that iOS is better and more user friendly as compared to Android. Android is having a lot of customizable ability, and it is packing a whole lot of functions into the platform, but most of the functions could end up never been used or even discovered by the user himself at the end of the day. The simplicity of iOS is what really amaze me. Android platform (similar to Windows) offers too much for user to take in, and requires a whole lot of processing power to drive it, forcing larger battery and faster processor to be developed, but still, Android phone will lag as the pace of development between the OS and the hardware are not in line. For Apple, both software and hardware are developed under one roof, therefore they are able to ensure user to get the best out of both world. Not to mention that each phone manufacturer are customizing their own version of Android, which gives a whole lot of variants of Android OS out there. This further mix up the user experience towards Android, and as an Android user, you will need to cry for an software update to become available from your manufacturer. The last but not least, as a Mac user, iPhone just sync seamlessly with everything that I'm doing on my Mac... this is something brilliant and something that Android will not be able to do so. And another thing that is great about iOS is the exactly same interface from phone to tablet. This is another area where Android is left far behind as they need to have different UI to cater for phone and tablet application, which creates more variants and making things even more complicated.
So, is iPhone and iOS really almighty? Well, if someone say yes, he or she is either an Apple fanboy or they have never try out something from the others. There are still plenty of rooms for iOS to grow, the first would be the notification center, shortcuts and widgets. Apple may not need to include fancy widgets like those in Android, but basic things for quick access to turn on GPS or wireless should really come as a standard in iOS. File transfer can perhaps be a little bit more "user friendly" like Android by giving direct access and copy & paste from PC to phone, rather than everything has to be done through iTunes. Other than that, I personally dislike the Home button as it eats out a lot of space. Even now I'm just using the touch assistance instead of the button. Well, I believe it is hard for Apple to remove it as it has been their iconic design of all time. All in all, I'm impressed and fairly in love with my new phone. Hope it will serve me well together with my Macbook Pro for years to come.
