Because by and large they’ve spent the last decade building features that have allowed me to preserve my privacy from companies who’ve spent the last decade trying to pry into my personal life.

I buy Apple products because in my opinion, they work on my behalf to protect my interests better than the other options available to me.

I think they have been leading in this area and by virtue of competition have pushed other vendors to do the same. I can’t imagine Android based devices would be nearly as privacy focused today if it weren’t for users moving to the Apple ecosystem in search of better security.

You have degoogled Android options like GrapheneOS that are far, far better for your privacy than Apple devices.

GrapheneOS devices lack push notifications, and lot of other features that make it unviable for most users.

Making exceptions like installing the Aurora Store or microG, defeat the point of a degoogled phone.

iOS can’t be hardened it to a 0 telemetry state like GrapheneOS, but it is a fully featured OS.

It strikes the right balance for general consumers, and prosumers like myself.

That is likely true and I was in that game for awhile but tired of the effort required and the limited hardware that would be fully functional and reliable as a production device.

With Apple it’s just easier and I can focus on other areas of life and just use my phone as the tool it is rather than spending untold hours making everything work.

Truth be told there was a time in my life when I actually enjoyed fiddling with that but I got my fill and am on to other priorities. There is only so much time in the day.

Not OP, but Apple tends to be a lot more straightforward in how they make their money. Their products cost more for the same technology, but in return they try their best to provide me with a good experience (to keep me buying their overpriced products). I don't blame those who go with option of Android, but I personally prefer to just pay a set, known amount of money up front.

> I don't blame those who go with option of Android, but I personally prefer to just pay a set, known amount of money up front.

I don't get it, what are some examples where Android is more misleading about charging you?

Only having to deal with Apple's BS is likely better than being at the whims of all the dominant players. The latter creates a race to the bottom with no hope of improving the ecosystem.

I think that's the main reason iOS is slowly eating Android's global market share, and why it remains the market leader in the US. As bad as iOS is for privacy and respecting user choice, Android is worse in practice. There's an argument that Android's openness benefits the end user, but it falls apart in practice: almost all third party apps (and certainly the ones that other people force you to use) depend on Play Services, which is a giant pile of surveillance capitalism and battery drain.

Having said that, I'd like to be able to toggle my iPhone into EU mode and sideload a few things.

I think lock-in (iMessage and such) better explains apple's growth, and an unlimited marketing budget

I thought that until I tried to switch back to Android, and found that there simply aren't good alternatives to the preloaded iOS software. Try replacing Notes with an E2E-encrypted alternative that supports collaborative editing, for example. I hit a half dozen things like that.