With the Apple iPhone 7 being released right around the corner, many new features are being confirmed. The new phone is now waterproof, has a powerful dual lens camera, and best of all, there is no headphone jack.
Wait… what? That’s right, the new iPhone will no longer feature the headphone jack, the technological innovation which has surprisingly, yet understandingly survived over 100 years. Instead, Apple has announced that they will be selling their own, Bluetooth powered, Air Buds, or consumers can purchase an adapter, so that they may still use their own wired headphones.
As a musician, a computer geek, a creator, and a consumer – I will not be buying the new iPhone. Better yet, I haven’t purchased anything from Apple in years and I will continue to NOT support them. Here’s why.
1. Performance
The biggest issue I’ve ever had with an Apple computer, is its issues with performance. While it’s true that an Apple computer can typically run faster than a low-end Windows computer, the average Windows computer runs faster. Not only on a level of RAM and CPU, but multitasking is much faster and easier on a Windows PC.
2. CD Drive
A few years ago, Apple made a big innovation – removing the disk drive from laptops. They insist that this is an improvement, but as someone who has a CD and DVD collection, the fact that there is no disk drive is a complete turnoff to me. Not only does this make absolutely no sense, but it means that if I wanted to download music from my computer to my phone, I would be forced to buy the digital copy.
3. App Support
Moving to phones for this point, it’s easy to say that the iPhone is usually the first OS to receive most apps. Also, apps are usually optimized best for iPhones. However, an Android phone has way more of a variety in available apps, than an iPhone does. While iPhones are stuck to using iTunes for all of their apps, Andriods have the Google Play Store, along with countless other online stores with tons of free app options.
4. Headphone Jack
I’ve already mentioned the fact that Apple is removing the headphone jack from their new iPhone. I understand their reasoning behind it, but let’s be honest – it’s an ignorant decision. Not only are they forcing users to buy their own wireless earbuds, which are poorly designed, but all of their users that have bought $200-$300 headphones are now at a loss. Unless they buy the adapter.
5. Software
I’ll make this short and simple. I can’t play 95% of my games in my Steam library on a Mac.
6. Programming and Customization
There’s just something about programming on a Mac that feels really awkward. Can it be done? Sure. But I can’t do without my CMD, my Control Panel, Task Manager and a ton of other features that are Windows exclusive. On my Android phone, there are thousands of ways that I can customize my phone, not to mention the sheer fact that I can access and use developer options.
7. Hardware
As a Windows user, I’m able to do something amazing. If I buy a PC in 2016, I can upgrade the hardware a year later. I can continue to upgrade the ram, graphics card, hard drive space, etc. If I buy a Mac, I’ll eventually have to buy a new Mac to upgrade the hardware. I’m literally saving thousands of dollars by using a Windows PC.
8. Price
This one is obvious, but is often times overlooked. Apple products are simply way too priced for what they are offering. The entirety of the Apple mantra exists solely on looking good. They want their products to be sleeker, slimmer and more attractive looking, thus turning their products into a fashion statement. This means that each of their products are overpriced and when a Mac can’t do everything I’d like it to, there’s no reason to shell out hundreds of dollars.
Overall, it’s easy to see why I’m not a fan of Apple products. In the past I have bought a Generation 1 iPod and it was a great piece of technology. It held tons of music and video and I appreciated it for what it was. But I also know that with a micro SD card, I can now hold over 100GBs of music on my Android phone. And that’s much, much better to me.
