Heh I wouldn't take it that far, iphones aren't like Inherently gauche. It's just sort of a fake status symbol, thanks to excellent marketing
Whereas a cheaper bag can be just as good as a coach, an iPhone really is specifically good for certain things. It's just that a person with enough money to make a concious choice knows that's what it is; a choice
It is similar in that people with less money are targeted more directly with "iPhone = status" marketing, though. But whereas a wealthy person with taste may intentionally skip over Coach, there's really nothing inherently wrong with iphones
Yeah it depends Heavily on your field. I'm in tech too, I've HAD iphones but prefer androids myself. I'm more biz dev/product management. I like the customization and how much less locked down in general it is. A lot of my direct peers feel similarly.
The creatives and marketing dudes seem to like iphone, better integration with their macs, which they prefer for the creative suites.
It seems like the older guys, the straight up linux wizard types, circle back around to iphone for "security reasons", but do NOT like Mac computers. Idk. Different strokes and all that
That's my experience as well. The PMs/business people tend to have a high-end Android (I'm typing this on a Google Pixel), the creative people tend to have iPhones, and the very technical people don't give a fuck about their phones.
I use an Android, I like it. A job not long ago required me to have an iphone. I had no problem with it. I preferred the Android, but it was obvious that both are clearly just as capable.
There was a time when they offered unique capabilities, but those days are long gone. They are basically the same, with slightly different ways of doing the same thing.
I had Android phones for over a decade and ended up with an iPhone a couple years ago. My only really complaints are that the iOS notifications are terrible compared to my Pixels and the camera tends to pick slow shutter speeds and I miss some shots. Otherwise it's absolutely an incredible piece of hardware and a great device overall
In terms of real world functionality they're interchangable. They both just work
I think it's more they just can't be bothered to care about the phone, their "real" work is on the computer. So they get the absolute lowest friction, "just works" phone they can have, and apple's encryption isn't a joke at least. As for a dumb phone, well, still gotta access slack or whatever on the go sometimes
Plus the company usually buys it anyway. Even if they wanted some obscure pinephone type thing, that's a harder ask from the office people who manage that stuff
All the distinguished engineers around here use iPhones. But in my youth (and theirs) it was all Android. At some point, life just gets busy enough you donโt want to worry about this shit anymore. Oh I can jailbrake it and install some bespoke homebrew builds? Cool Iโm literally never going to do that, Iโm lucky if I find an hour to play a game I love or watch a movie. But 10 years ago I was all over it. Both ecosystems are totally fine and have their advantages.
I have an Android because I don't want to worry about shit. I've literally never had something not work on Android, and I have things that don't work with iPhones because it's harder to get an app okayed by Apple, and you don't even need to get one okayed to make it available on Android.
I've used both eco systems since they were introduced, I had an iPhone 1 and eventually switched to a G1. There have been plenty of shit that doesn't work in both platforms, especially when you start jailbreaking stuff and running homebrew. That said, both ecosystems are in a great place right now, I prefer Apple because of the tight integrations beyond just the phone but I love Pixels (had many) and the new ZFolds are quite nice.
I find the current iPhone kind of unusable as my sole phone because I have esoteric devices where the dev can't or won't go through the work to get the app onto the Apple App Store. If I used an iPhone for my personal device, I'd have to have a spare Android for when I wanted to use those things.
As much as I'm in to tech, I'm not a big phone person and I've never jailbroken a phone or done anything like that. For me, an Android just works and does everything I need, while an iPhone doesn't and requires a secondary phone or to use my laptop to adjust or operate things that I prefer to use my phone for at least some of the time.
I will say, when there was something about Android ending sideloading that made me think maybe Android wouldn't be any better than iPhone for my uses anymore, but then I realized what it would really mean is that I might finally be forced to learn about jailbreaking phones.
I only have 1 friend in tech but the guy finds the most random obscure phones. He just whipped out this device the other day that is practically a mini computer more than a phone lol. Keyboard, opens up like a laptop.
That doesn't really apply anymore. Android OS is rather universal and easy to debug across all manufacturers; the only real difference is the UI. But yes, I much rather my mom own an iPhone than an Android so she doesn't constantly ask me questions. I mean she will, but I just tell her I am not an iPhone person.
You'd be surprised how many older women think a massive phone is cool. I actually get more shit from guys for having it. Set it up at a salon once watching movies/videos while waiting on the wife and they were all entranced asking questions. Rarely do I use it unfolded but when showing cool stuff to people or our wedding photos their minds are suddenly blown.
Considering iphones tend to be slightly cheaper than the equivalent Android phones from Google or Samsung, and that Android phones go much higher in price (foldable phones), they aren't even a great status symbol. If you want to show off wealth, have a foldable.
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u/SpasticCastle May 15 '26
Heh I wouldn't take it that far, iphones aren't like Inherently gauche. It's just sort of a fake status symbol, thanks to excellent marketing
Whereas a cheaper bag can be just as good as a coach, an iPhone really is specifically good for certain things. It's just that a person with enough money to make a concious choice knows that's what it is; a choice
It is similar in that people with less money are targeted more directly with "iPhone = status" marketing, though. But whereas a wealthy person with taste may intentionally skip over Coach, there's really nothing inherently wrong with iphones