I was a die hard Android fan boy switching my phones every 9-12 months, rooting them, flashing custom ROMs and customising them in general. I was basically the most anti Apple guy you can imagine and mocked everyone who bought Apple devices.

4 years ago I got my hands on an iPhone XS Max for a few quid. Thought might as well try the device out which I’m making fun of just for the sake of it.

4 years later I’m sitting on my iPhone 14 Pro Max, my 2020 iPad Pro 12.9, AirPods Pro 2, Apple Watch 6 and 2 Apple TV boxes.

Apple really knows how to hook their users. The ecosystem is by far the best and won’t ever be reached by Android due to the simple fact that every device is made by one manufacturer.

For example: you setup the Apple TV box and it detects a nearby iPhone and offers quick setup. Setting up the second Apple TV box it even asks if it should mirror everything from the first Apple TV. I put my AirPods in my ears and Apple TV detects them and asks if it should connect to them even though they were never connected.

Another example: I’m watching a movie on my iPad with my AirPods in ears. I get a voice memo on WhatsApp on my phone. I play the memo and the AirPods switch instantly to the iPhone and after playing the memo back to the iPad.

These are only two examples about how well the ecosystem works. Yes, it’s kinda a loophole, once you’re in it, you can barely escape it. But I appreciate that shit just works. You have to experience it to really understand. Also I don’t feel the urge to switch the phone so often anymore, not only because there are not many models to choose from but the UX is so nice and smooth feeling, even on older devices. Not to mention the clean UI that isn’t cluttered and packed with ads like on some Android phone OSs or the Fire TV OS (I believe Xiaomi does this?).

To clarify a few of your points: No you don’t need to pay for OS upgrades. Support for older devices is good. The latest iOS 17 is available on the iPhone XR from 2018. Not to mention that you don’t need the latest OS version to have a fully functional device. Apple devices don’t really have bloatware on them. Only some Apple made apps like Books, Health etc. which can be fully uninstalled. Ecosystem is pretty closed yes. While you can use, let’s say, third party smart watches or Bluetooth headphones, the experience will not be as smooth as it’d be with AirPods. Apple finding fancy names for normal stuff is just their marketing strategy of making you or their products feel special. Not a fan of it either but don’t really care tbh. Also never really cared about the screws they use on the devices since I never had the urge to open them.

I use a Macbook Pro because they are much more performant and have way longer battery life compared to a similarly priced Windows laptop, no other reason. There is just nothing in the x86 realm that is even comparable to what Apple silicon offers, and Windows on ARM offerings just aren't really there yet. I use a Windows desktop and an Android phone, though.

After having read the title I was gonna say I make my own applesauce and dont use apple jams or jellies. Good thing I read the rest of the post

I have an iPhone, MacBook, and run Linux on a desktop pc. Only thing I have to add is that on iOS the only apps you can’t remove is phone, messages, settings, App Store, and safari which I wouldn’t consider bloatware. On macos I think u can remove pretty much anything using workarounds. Rn apples arm laptops are some of the most efficient on the market, iPads are pretty good tablets, and iPhones work great with both of those products.

I wish all windows users a very 65 decibel fan noise on opening 3rd chrome tab.

This message brought to you by ARM gang.

Popular alternatives really are that bad. If you just walk into a phone store and get an android its going to be loaded with far more bloatware from google, the manufacturer, and the telecom. It's just a visibly worse product. You can always research, buy direct, or flash your own android and get a better experience. Or you can just buy the apple product which - for the average user - is not crap, it just works. Same with buying a laptop from Best Buy or a prebuilt desktop. Apple designs their products to be like an appliance, something that just works and you dont really care how.

if you want to upgrade the OS, you have to pay once again

they haven't charged for OS updates since 2010 or so

you cannot get rid of bloatware, only hide it

fair but unlike bloatware on other operating systems, it's mostly unobtrusive (doesn't run in the background, at least to the point where performance is affected). also this seems to apply to many OEM android ROMs?

they use pentalobe screws instead or regular ones

also a fair criticism but it's not like I'm opening it every day (some apple devices I've owned I never had to open) and you can get screwdrivers for like $5 if you really need one

anyways I have an iPhone and a macbook pro. the iPhone I like because the overall experience feels "smoother" even though some of the higher end androids might have better specs on paper and might be a little faster on benchmarks. idk I know this sounds stupid as fuck but it might just be way things are animated and the overall visual design, I just find it less annoying to use. at this point the most concrete advantages android has are the real file browser and sideloading, but I personally don't need those. I last used an android in 2021-2022 and almost never used them

the macbook I bought because my stupid job only allows remote work if you provide your own hardware, and at the time they started allowing remote work, I was working on an iOS app. I was a mac user a long time before, so I was excited about "returning" but honestly I found it underwhelming, mostly because it still has the problem that caused me to switch to PC in the first place - poor compatibility with mainstream software. the one nice thing about macbooks (or at least the specific one I got, the M1 pro) is that they're super quiet compared to windows laptops, the loudest it gets is on the level of the average windows laptop at idle. also they have better touchpads, though touchpads in general are bad. I don't hate it but I don't think I'll be buying another one again. If I have to get a mac for iOS development or something in the far future I'll just get the cheapest secondhand mac mini suitable for the job.

I use an iPad, am subscribed to Apple Music and also use a Hackintosh setup (aiming to replace it with a MacBook of some kind in the future).

• The tablet market is pretty much "ignore everything else and just buy an iPad". There is no tablet really worth your time on Android, most of it is due to Google and the Android ecosystem practically abandoning the tablet form factor. Meanwhile Apple still supports the iPad to this day and there are plenty of great apps that support the iPad form factor, such as Mona for Mastodon
• I used to use Spotify for streaming, but found that it was getting increasingly annoying to use. So many long-standing bugs including one where if I download even one song on my phone that's in my Liked Songs list, the entire app takes like 30 seconds trying to load it. Apple Music handles large lists so much better. The library management is also so much better than on Spotify too, with it basically just being "iTunes but as a streaming service" and I can have smart playlists for whatever purpose I want. Their consistency with regards to UX across the different target platforms aren't great (iOS and Android can't create or update smart playlists, Windows and Mac don't have word-for-word lyrics) but even with all that, it's the least annoying streaming service for me right now. (and yes, I maintain a local music library with MusicBee - streaming is helpful for discovery)
• I've been recently using my Hackintosh more and it was really comfy using it. I have issues focusing on a single task (which might be ADHD, might not be, idk) and the full-screen mode allows me to focus on the tasks on my screen.

As for your point on bloatware, this happens on Android too. I can't remove Facebook, OneDrive or YouTube from my phone, only "hide" it. (Samsung btw)

In addition to the things everyone else has brought up:

• MacPorts gives you everything on any BSD or Linux machine, on your Mac.
• iTerm2 is the best terminal on any platform, there's amazing capabilities in it. You didn't know your terminal was so inadequate!
• AppleScript, Automator, and every programming language on Mac; Shortcuts, Pythonista, LispPad, & Hotpaw BASIC on iOS; make automation of the system and programming little tools incredibly easy. Everything is accessible to the power user, it's not like Linux where some GUI features are scriptable, and others you'll be writing a C++ program to reach some API because it's not exposed to anything.

As the old ad says (which got me to buy in): Sends other UNIX boxes to /dev/null

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I use an Apple phone and laptop along with a Debian server and distro hopping laptop.

The first benefit I get is social integration—I’m not looking for FOSS alternatives to some things because the mainstream source definitely runs on it (Adobe products primarily). Never underestimate the social utility of those blue bubbles—it tells a certain brand of person that you are part of their herd, and my family heavily falls into that group. Nobody ever bats an eye at my MacBook Air in public—people don’t see me for the 1337 hackerman that I am inside, and I like it that way sometimes.

The second benefit is hardware support. Say what you will about the price of Apple Care, but knowing I can walk in to an Apple Store and walk out with a replacement is extremely useful in a pinch.

Finally, I like the feel and look of their products, and there is a convenience in their ecosystem. You know what you’re getting with Apple, and it all works together out of the box. I could recreate their built in features with FOSS alternatives, but I simply don’t have to because it is already designed to work.

With Apple you pay a lot up front and then nothing for the software over time—that is an easy budgeting calculation for me. I don’t have to worry about what card I choose or niche incompatibility, Apple already took care of that.

I’ve flirted with fully transitioning to Linux many times, but I have always found a reason to keep one mainstream OS around, and Windows sucks. MacOS is a happy medium for power users who are comfortable with it and enjoy the UNIX family.

Well, I got into them when I was younger. My school required a MacBook and when I started using one, I found it way cooler than my clunky Windows laptop. Part of that was probably the price, but it was also the OS. It was really smooth - and I freaking fell in love with the touchpad gestures. Then I got an iPhone, an iPad etc.

Overtime, I moved away from an Apple only ecosystem. Now I use Linux on an XPS. I also use a Galaxy Tab instead - iPad, while powerful, is really hampered by its OS. Galaxy Tab is far more powerful and capable of being an actual laptop replacement, at least for me.

But I still use an iPhone. I find it a lot easier to deal with than Android. I tried the latter in the past, btw. But I don't need customization on my phone, unlike with my laptop or tablet. So, for my headphones, I got the AirPods. The connection between the iPhone and AirPods is really good.

Will my next phone be an iPhone. I dunno. There are some really interesting Android phones out there, and the platform seems more mature now with many companies offering a simple UI that doesn't do too much - I still keep up with it all. I liked the OnePlus Fold that came out recently, for example.

I'll admit, I'm not your average Apple user. I made a very deliberate choice to not be tied down to Apple. I've taken conscious actions to have different OSes and software on different devices and not be locked down by any one company. I use FOSS wherever I can, and moved away from all the default apps pushed by Apple, Samsung etc. long ago. It's also why I won't get a Galaxy phone - I already have the tablet. The only concession I allowed was the AirPods.

But I can tell you another example. Over the years, my father has needed new products. And every time I've gotten him Apple products. Now, he has an all Apple setup. MacBook, iPad, iPhone, AirPods. Why? Because I've seen him use Windows laptops and Android phones in the past. I know just how many problems he's had with them - and how much I had to help him with them. Now that he has an all Apple set up, everything is dead simple for him. People underestimate this.

Hope this helps answer your questions.

I've never bought an apple product in my life, but even my android phone drives me nuts at times...

I use an iPhone because I need two things to just work, and my phone is one of those things. (The other is my car, but that isn’t super relevant here.)

Phones and computers. I don’t exclusively use apple stuff, but I do use it. I use it because it’s useful and does what I need.

Everyone replied to all your points already, so I won’t. Out of curiosity though, what were your expectations? All software and hardware has limited life expectancy, all software packages have bloat you can’t get rid of, no software from one platform will work easily on another, companies call standard stuff goofy names all the time and security screws have been around forever. What were you hoping it would be like and what is like that?

As always, holler if you need a hand. It’s mind melting trying to adapt to a new system.

Because the vast millions (billions) of Apple users don't give a flying shit. They just want to use what their friends use. It's that simple.

It's not about freedom, it's not about choice, it's not about bloatware, it's not even about the cost. It's simply what are my friends using I don't want to be left out I'll do what they do.