Unfortunately iOS devices are totally uncompetitive in this important space.
Compared to most smartphones, it's pretty good, but compared to PCs it's pretty bad.
Overall, it's a sad state of affairs imo. Why do phones become obsolete so quickly when other computers can be perfectly usable for well over 10 years?
I'll answer as if this is a real question: the overall rate and pervasiveness of change for that class of device.
I suspect that 2022/2023 flagships would hold up really well 10 years from now.
Between the
- battery lifespan (a technology that has tradeoffs between lifespan and capacity, such that manufacturers target 3 year lifecycles
- driver updates and baseband security (famously out of date on older android phones, no matter what "rom" you're running)
- ports lifecycles (the charger port has a finite lifecycle of plug cycles, also often cheaped out on a bit)
- lifespan of custom ROMs (frequently losing contributors and thus updates)
Is that phone really going to last 8 years of daily active use?
I think the answer is no. Apple has made a huge effort with the iphone 14 (not pro), to re-engineer the device to make it easier to repair and recycle. We'll see if that pays off, but I don't think holding on to a phone for 8 years is feasible or practical for enough people.
Or in other words, it’s all fun and games until the flash dies because you used up the lifetime writes.
Oh, and don’t forget the reality of those “open” bootloaders, besides pixels almost all of them come with the huge caveat of wiping proprietary firmware ASAP, bringing your fancy camera’s quality to the dirt for example. So, do your phones really get a new life?
It's a small thing, but basically what I have is a magsafe stand next to my bed. I can lean over, with one hand, and rest the phone on the dock, and it latches into place. When I want the phone, I can gently tug on it - with one hand.
I have one on my desk as well. Place the phone down - never have to worry about aligning it with the qi pad, pick it up and it's been charging for however long i've been sitting.
I still don't get the hype. Like sure, its less effort, but the effort being discussed is such a trivial amount. It takes me as much effort to plug in my phone as it does to scratch my back or something. I don't even think about it. There's so many things I plug in over the course of modern life.
As opposed to having to remember to bring a cable, reaching into my bag each time to get it, plugging it in on both ends etc.
That's closer to a minute each time.
Try groggily inserting your cable into your phone at 2AM in the morning as you remember you need to charge it. Or you could just snap it to a magnetic charging surface and be done with it. MagSafe to lightning is what USB-C is to Micro USB: not necessary, but nicer.
A tradeoff is that my cat walking on my nightstand can stop the phone from charging, but MagSafe would take care of that.
I’ve also had USB-C charging cables fail, and the springy charging pins on my Pebble weren’t great either. Lightning or USB ports on phones will also get gummed up with pocket lint. Not making a physical connection for charging just seems to work better long term.
On my office desk, I have another wireless charger, but this one is flat. Place my phone/headphone-case on it, and it's charging. If I need either - just pick it up and go. I don't have to think about plugging the cable and accidentally pulling it when I forget to unplug it.
That makes me charge my phone more often during the day (i.e. charge at 50% to 80%). During the night, it doesn't matter because the phone is slow charging to be at 100% around the time I wake rather than charge to a 100% and then sit at it the entire night.
If I do need a quick charge - I just unplug the wireless charger and charge it. Airport lounges have charging spots on tables - don't have to: a) trust their USB ports b) get cables and charger out of my bad. Cars have them.
Anyways, not going back to charging with wire anytime soon.
I'd definitely prefer to use Apple devices, but they don't work for me in my current circumstances.
Presumably an android phone (without magsafe)? My bedside charger is magsafe - it works very well and is one of those small things that works well and improves the experience.
There's a lot of stuff in the apple experience like this, that android users seem to scoff at - and then they try it and get hooked. I'm really glad Google is building their own phones and trying to push them as first class devices - iOS and iPhones desperately need strong competition.