According to Demand Sage, a platform that reports revenue analytics, “There are more than 1.5 billion active iPhone users worldwide as of 2023.” This makes Apple one of the largest smartphone manufacturers, along with Samsung and Xiaomi. But, just because Apple is a large company, that does not mean they are the best, and in my opinion, there are many negatives to Apple that prevent it from being as good as people think it is.
Before I was an iPhone and MacBook user, I was an Android user—and have used a good mix of phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the LG Stylo 5— and I still use a Windows PC at home, all of which have features that I miss on a daily basis.
My first issue with iPhones (which is apparently being fixed with the iPhone 15), is the use of a lighting charger instead of a USB-C charger. The use of the cable initially made sense to me because, as someone who had to use a micro USB connector on my Samsung, I can attest to the absolute waste of metal and plastic that those connectors are, but with the creation of the USB-C standard, myself and many others see the use of the lighting connector as obsolete. USB-C beats Apple’s proprietary connector in almost every conceivable way in things like data transfer speeds, power delivery, and the ability to display your phone easier on external monitors.
Additionally, Apple already uses the USB-C connector on the MacBook and their new generation of iPads, so it’s strange that their iPhones, until now, haven’t also utilized the USB-C. With the adoption of USB-C, there will be a massive reduction in e-waste, as people will only need one charger for all devices, which was the European Union’s reasoning for mandating Apple to switch to the connector in the first place.
Another jarring negative for Apple is the inability to load third-party software onto your iPhone. While there are workarounds to doing this, like jailbreaking (a process in which you override the factory settings of a device), this voids your warranty and makes it harder for software updates. Many useful apps are not on the Apple App Store, and the inability to access the Google Play Store or other services is a huge nuisance.
A third annoyance pertains to MacBooks and the inability to choose your own operating system. Someone who may not be as into tech as I am may be unsure of why I would not want to use something like macOS, which, in all fairness, is perfectly fine. While there are several legitimate reasons for someone to want to change their OS, like running Linux for server monitoring, my two reasons are simple: I want to play games on my Mac, and most do not run, and I do not like Apple telling me what I can and cannot do.
However, while I could go on and on about why I do not like Apple and their anti-right-to-repair stance, lack of innovation, and inability to text Android phones non-blurry photos, it should be acknowledged that, as someone who owns a MacBook and has access to this level of technology, I am very privileged. Many people around the world do not have any access to technology and would love the opportunity to use any product, no matter how flawed.
