I just canceled my Pixel 9 Pro Fold order and bought the iPhone 16 Pro Max instead – here’s why
So here’s the thing: I really want to ditch my iPhone and switch to Android, but every time I’m close to making the switch, Apple pulls me back.
Last year I used a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra for a week and I really liked it. But it was an experiment and I was just waiting for the iPhone 15 Pro Max to launch. Titanium iPhones came out in September and soon I was back to using iOS in my ever-growing Apple walled garden.
This year, however, was different, and I was so close to saying goodbye to the iPhone forever, well, for 12 months at least. After seeing the unveiling of Google’s new flagship smartphones in August, I was immediately intrigued by the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Until recently, my idea of a foldable phone was one of big gaps, peeling screen protectors, and a bulky footprint, but that all changed when I held a 9 Pro Fold in my hand at the store.
In our review of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, US mobile editor Philip Berne wrote: “When I showed the Pixel 9 Pro Fold to iPhone-toting friends and family, they were all invariably excited. It’s the first foldable that looks… normal, they all said. How normal? It’s not just because the front is exactly the same size and shape as the Pixel 9. The thinness helps a lot, too – the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is so thin that it’s less bulky than my iPhone 15 Pro Max when I keep the iPhone in a case.”
I might as well be one of his friends or family members because that’s exactly how I felt after just a few minutes with the 9 Pro Fold. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was holding an innovation in consumer technology in my hands and I felt like a kid again. Of course, my idea of foldable devices was skewed and there are many that resemble Google’s offering, but when most of the technology you use outside of work is “designed by Apple in California” you lose the sense of what something truly refreshing feels like. Now, that’s not meant to be an insult to Apple, my Mac, iPad and iPhone all work exactly how I want my technology to, but when you’ve been using incremental updates to the same products for nearly 15 years, there comes a point when you want to see if the grass is greener on the other side.
So I did it. I pre-ordered a Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. I was going to finally sell my iPhone and try Android 15 for a year. But then everything changed.
And every day the groundhog greets you
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold was officially released on September 4, but my pre-order on EE, one of the UK’s biggest networks, never arrived. I waited patiently, eager to try out Google Gemini built into Android and get a first look at a foldable smartphone with a beautiful 8-inch display. For some reason, my pre-order kept getting pushed back, to September 5, September 6, September 7, September 8… And then it happened: Apple’s iPhone 16 event on September 9.
At the event, Apple unveiled the iPhone 16 Pro Max alongside the rest of the iPhone 16 lineup. The hardware is an incremental improvement over my 15 Pro Max, but in our first hands-on review of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, Editor At Large Lance Ulanoff wrote, “The question is, can the small or even invisible changes add up to something big? Based on my brief hands-on experience with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, I’d say the answer is yes.”
For me, it’s not about the hardware, I own the best iPhone of 2023 and it’s still a beast nearly 12 months later. Rather, it was Apple’s ability at the event to make me feel like I couldn’t miss the first year of Apple Intelligence. Yes, I’ll have access to Apple’s AI on my iPad Pro M2 and my MacBook Pro M3 Pro, but the iPhone is the heart of the Apple ecosystem and it’s arguably the smartphone experience that will determine the success of Apple Intelligence.
AI is crucial to the success of iOS 18 and the new iPhones, which Apple CEO Tim Cook calls “the first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence.” With incremental updates coming over the next year, we’ll be able to test individual Apple Intelligence features as they sizzle in the oven and see what impact they can have on our daily lives. I hope at least one of Apple’s AI tools is as useful as Universal Clipboard, probably my favorite Apple feature that lets me copy and paste between all my products.
Preorders for the iPhone 16 Pro Max are now open, and I can once again pick up a new Apple smartphone on release day. I was close to trusting Android, but shipping delays, fear of the unknown, and Apple’s ability to make you feel FOMO have brought me back. I’m looking forward to a year of Apple Intelligence and can’t wait for Siri to have on-screen recognition and become the personal assistant in my pocket that I’ve always wanted. In about 11 months, this cycle repeats itself, only next time Apple Intelligence will be less unknown and Google Gemini could be the way forward.
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