Need Help!!! thinking of Making a big switch

Wtf....

*Hands over an enter-key and a bunch of periods*

Right now, Microsoft's free OneDrive works better IMO for syncing photos than Google+ does. It's also available on all devices, Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, etc.

As for XCode, you do not need a retina display to use it. If you already have a Mac, install it now. That's something that I think most people who say they are interested in learning to use never even get around to it, so don't go out and buy a machine specifically for that until you know you're going to use it. Same with photo editing.

Any modern Mac or PC can edit photos just fine. If you want to spend extra for a retina MBP, go ahead. I wouldn't personally buy the 12" retina MB, the CPU is underpowered compared to the MBP or even the MBA. I hate the idea of one cable and needing adapters to do the things the other two already do without adapters.

As for photo apps for Android, most of the ones for iOS are also on Android. There are a handful that are Android only. You'll just have to see which ones you prefer.

Android has caught up to iOS, especially with Lollipop. I bought a 2014 Moto X, love it, and am getting rid of my iPhone 5S. I've had Samsung Galaxy S phones before and hate all the crap Samsung puts on their devices. Touch Wiz is a horrible overlay, IMO, not only does it slow down the phone or tablet but adds bloatware you cannot uninstall. I'd rather have a stock Android experience, and Moto's hands free features are better than all of the other makers at this time.

BTW, I was a die hard Mac user for years but am so pissed at all the crap Apple has done in the last two years I've finally had enough. I'm not buying another Apple product.

cocacolakid said:

Right now, Microsoft's free OneDrive works better IMO for syncing photos than Google+ does. It's also available on all devices, Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, etc.

As for XCode, you do not need a retina display to use it. If you already have a Mac, install it now. That's something that I think most people who say they are interested in learning to use never even get around to it, so don't go out and buy a machine specifically for that until you know you're going to use it. Same with photo editing.

Any modern Mac or PC can edit photos just fine. If you want to spend extra for a retina MBP, go ahead. I wouldn't personally buy the 12" retina MB, the CPU is underpowered compared to the MBP or even the MBA. I hate the idea of one cable and needing adapters to do the things the other two already do without adapters.

As for photo apps for Android, most of the ones for iOS are also on Android. There are a handful that are Android only. You'll just have to see which ones you prefer.

Android has caught up to iOS, especially with Lollipop. I bought a 2014 Moto X, love it, and am getting rid of my iPhone 5S. I've had Samsung Galaxy S phones before and hate all the crap Samsung puts on their devices. Touch Wiz is a horrible overlay, IMO, not only does it slow down the phone or tablet but adds bloatware you cannot uninstall. I'd rather have a stock Android experience, and Moto's hands free features are better than all of the other makers at this time.

BTW, I was a die hard Mac user for years but am so pissed at all the crap Apple has done in the last two years I've finally had enough. I'm not buying another Apple product.

Click to expand...

Should I even ask and risk opening up what I'm sure is a Pandora's Box of griping and complaining?

OP - I'm an Apple guy. All Apple everything. I'm think about picking up an S6 Edge as my third device. Looks really nice and the whole edge thing has me intrigued (I've bashed it enough, might as well test it out myself).

You can't go wrong these days buying a flagship device. That being said, I'll never stray from Apple for my main devices simply because they just work better for my use case plus the people I communicate and share with most are on iOS devices. That's where I found my main pain point to be when I tried going Android. It's just more difficult to share and communicate with my circle of friends of family.

Just find apps (easily found via Google search) that help you get things transferred over. It all depends on what services you use most though. But you can find an alternative for most everything on Android. Though I personally don't find alternatives to be better than Apple services. But that's opinion.

Good luck!

jrswizzle said:

Should I even ask and risk opening up what I'm sure is a Pandora's Box of griping and complaining?

Click to expand...

lol. I'll refrain from hogging someone else's thread. But it's a multitude of complaints across their entire product line that Apple has refused to fix, while trotting out new intentionally crippled machines and $17,000 watches and working on cars. Apple has completely lost their focus on supposedly making the best products possible. If you look at my signature you'll see I've spent a ton of money on brand new Apple products, upgrading every year. I won't do that again.

cocacolakid said:

lol. I'll refrain from hogging someone else's thread. But it's a multitude of complaints across their entire product line that Apple has refused to fix, while trotting out new intentionally crippled machines and $17,000 watches and working on cars. Apple has completely lost their focus on supposedly making the best products possible. If you look at my signature you'll see I've spent a ton of money on brand new Apple products, upgrading every year. I won't do that again.

Click to expand...

Funny, I've found the last few upgrades I've made to be the best they've ever offered - iPad Air 2, iPhone 6+ and looking forward to the MacBook.

Why people seem to FIXATE on the $17,000 watch (when there will likely be very few of these actually made) instead of looking to the $350/$550 consumer versions is baffling. Seems petty to simply try to knock Apple for something we don't fully understand yet.

We want game changers, yet those game changers have to fit in our own small boxes of how we see the tech space. The iPod was mocked. The iPhone was mocked. The iPad was mocked. The AppleTV was a hobby. All four have spawned HUGE markets.

I expect the Watch to be no different.

As for the whole "intentionally crippled" stuff.....I'm not sure where you're driving at with this. How about intentionally efficient? I suppose we see things differently.

1 usbc port is not more efficient than 2

gotluck said:

1 usbc port is not more efficient than 2

Click to expand...

Sure it is - instead of plugging in multiple things when I dock my MacBook, I'll only need to plug in the 1 adapter

I rarely plug anything into my current Air anyhow. Wires are old news! All for wireless options.

Switch.

If you don't like it, you can always return. I made the switch recently and I'm not in any rush to return to iPhone/iOS. In fact, quite happy and excited about Android right now.

Still a Mac-only user though.

iPad... I'm considering switching here too, but this isn't as important to me.

jrswizzle said:

Why people seem to FIXATE on the $17,000 watch (when there will likely be very few of these actually made) instead of looking to the $350/$550 consumer versions is baffling.

Click to expand...

People bring up the watch because it's the poster child example of how Apple has lost it's way. There have been issues with displays on 2011 MBP's that Apple never solved. They actually just lost a class action lawsuit because they refused to solve the problem. There have been issues with 2012 Mac mini's having a known display issue with HDMI and display port on 2nd monitors that Apple told me personally they would not spend a second fixing, all while continuing to falsely advertise the mini could run 2 monitors at once (It couldn't in some machines). They have had issues with many other products, with software that is being shipped in beta quality states and then half hearted attempts to correct bugs after it ships. They release an updated 2014 Mac mini that they intentionally crippled by downgraded to a dual core processor, closing the 2nd drive bay so a 2nd hd could never be installed, soldering the cpu in place, and soldering the ram in place. Then they continue their nonsense of saying how they take their time to make the best products in the world - with a straight face. How is crippling a machine making it the best in the world? A MB you need to carry adapters with because going to one cable is better than having built in ports?

The watch is a disaster, unless you think sending your heartbeat to your loved one is groundbreaking. And yes, the $350 version has the same features as the $17,000 version. Look at it the other way, the $17,000 watch has ZERO additional features. Hell, maybe Hyundai should be painting their Elantra's in gold and charging a 48x markup. Apple makes the "best" products but can't bother to get products right before shipping, make little to no attempt to fix the problems their products ship with, and then we find out they're making cars and $17,000 watches? What part of that makes sense?

I'm not normally one to bash Tim Cook and say Steve Jobs would never do that, Cook should be allowed to stand on his own, but... what the hell are they doing?!!!

If they're going to expand and make all this other stuff than at least get the core products right.

jrswizzle said:

Sure it is - instead of plugging in multiple things when I dock my MacBook, I'll only need to plug in the 1 adapter

I rarely plug anything into my current Air anyhow. Wires are old news! All for wireless options.

Click to expand...

So how would the second usbc port hurt you? I'm being facetious but only Apple could successfully sell a laptop with one usbc port

Dongles really suck too

And the comments on the Mac mini above are spot on for me. 2014 mini was looking like it would have been my first mac had it have been a true successor of the previous model years

cocacolakid said:

People bring up the watch because it's the poster child example of how Apple has lost it's way. There have been issues with displays on 2011 MBP's that Apple never solved. They actually just lost a class action lawsuit because they refused to solve the problem. There have been issues with 2012 Mac mini's having a known display issue with HDMI and display port on 2nd monitors that Apple told me personally they would not spend a second fixing, all while continuing to falsely advertise the mini could run 2 monitors at once (It couldn't in some machines). They have had issues with many other products, with software that is being shipped in beta quality states and then half hearted attempts to correct bugs after it ships. They release an updated 2014 Mac mini that they intentionally crippled by downgraded to a dual core processor, closing the 2nd drive bay so a 2nd hd could never be installed, soldering the cpu in place, and soldering the ram in place. Then they continue their nonsense of saying how they take their time to make the best products in the world - with a straight face. How is crippling a machine making it the best in the world? A MB you need to carry adapters with because going to one cable is better than having built in ports?



The watch is a disaster, unless you think sending your heartbeat to your loved one is groundbreaking. And yes, the $350 version has the same features as the $17,000 version. Look at it the other way, the $17,000 watch has ZERO additional features. Hell, maybe Hyundai should be painting their Elantra's in gold and charging a 48x markup. Apple makes the "best" products but can't bother to get products right before shipping, make little to no attempt to fix the problems their products ship with, and then we find out they're making cars and $17,000 watches? What part of that makes sense?



I'm not normally one to bash Tim Cook and say Steve Jobs would never do that, Cook should be allowed to stand on his own, but... what the hell are they doing?!!!



If they're going to expand and make all this other stuff than at least get the core products right.

Click to expand...

So they're supposed to stop coming up with new products to fix old problems?

I'll refrain from calling the watch a disaster until it's released. Given similar things have been said about almost every major product release over the last 15 years. I'll go with the company that's produced huge winners until they fail to do so.

I'm also excited about the watch. I like watches, and I like the connection to my iPhone.

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gotluck said:

So how would the second usbc port hurt you? I'm being facetious but only Apple could successfully sell a laptop with one usbc port

Dongles really suck too

And the comments on the Mac mini above are spot on for me. 2014 mini was looking like it would have been my first mac had it have been a true successor of the previous model years

Click to expand...

It wouldn't hurt me. But if it meant a thicker laptop, I wouldn't be for it.

In answer to your first question, I recently switched from an all Apple lifestyle to now include a Galaxy S4 Active in my mix. The main reason for choosing this phone was the user replaceable battery and addition of a micro-sd card slot. I think this makes the usable life of the phone longer than that of the iPhone because no matter how long the battery life is or how many 'gigs' the phone has, the battery will wear out and the phone will get filled up.

I use Google Drive to automatically back up all my photos from my phone and iPad, and it syncs to my Mac Pro and Macbook Pro immediately without having to worry about it. The same thing works with OneDrive and Dropbox. Right now with OneDrive, any photos that you sync up to 3GB will add to your total drive size, and I used the Bing promo and the Dropbox promo in addition to my educational promo to bring my OneDrive size up to 230GB for 1 year and 130GB after that for free.

For question number 2, I personally am not sold on the Retina Macbook Pro yet because I don't think that the screen resolution that it brings is needed in a 13 or 15 inch screen. As it is on my non-Retina Macbook Pro, I would need a magnifying glass to see the individual pixels, and if I do any photo editing that needs the higher resolution I use an external monitor. I think the sweet spot in a Macbook Pro right now lies in the 2012 15inch Macbook Pro with the Quad Core i7 processor. these can usually be found for around $1000 used online, and have enough horsepower and can hold enough memory to run all CC 2014 without any hiccups at all. Like I said, add an external 23 or 27 inch monitor, a Wacom tablet, and a real mouse, and you should be set to go!

when it comes to photos, you currently upload them to google+ or onedrive (better choice) however during the next google i/o (which is a press conference thing like apple keynotes) they will announce that they are splitting google+ photos into google drive as its own separate app, similar to docs app which is also part of google drive.

i was an apple guy as well, and like you i'm getting sick of them... i'm a gamer and i rather pay 1499$ on an asus rog gaming machine than a 2499$ macbookpro retina, not only that but the asus rog i'm mentioning has better specs... just lower resolution. (there is higher resolution laptops they just cost more) but i don't need them, apple has proven resolution doesn't matter much with their iphones... iphone 6 still isn't 1080p, the plus is however.

when it comes to android phones... there is so many that i'm overwhelmed... for instance go to huawai.com and click "consumer" on the top and then look for the huawai ascend mate7 ... that phone is just gorgeous and is beefed up to the max just as much as samsung galaxy s6... just a lower resolution again.

there's another phone you can check out from asus called "asus zenphone 2" which starts at 199$ and will go up to 375$ again with crazy specs.

and then there's oneplus.net which requires an invite (can ask in forums) to purchase it, or wait to buy it on tuesdays... their current phone is a year old but they will have an upgrade in Q2 or Q3... and they are cheap compared to iphone.

samsung galaxy s6 in benchmarks is the phone to beat as of april 10th, samsung pay is better than apple pay which will work on magnetic strips not just nfc.

android allows to multitask and have background apps, cant do that with ios. ios also requires itunes which i despise, i dont even have it installed.

i won't list all the reasons... i'm just so glad i'm done, i feel like weights are coming off, also on android you can actually browse files on your phone in explorer. when you click on download app from play store... it sends it to your phone automatically... you don't need cables or use touch id or enter a password. stuff like this is why its better.

here's some photo editing apps

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jellybus.Moldiv
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aviary.android.feather
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.picsart.studio

have fun and enjoy your new life ;p

jrswizzle said:

It wouldn't hurt me. But if it meant a thicker laptop, I wouldn't be for it.

Click to expand...

Why should it mean a thicker laptop?

Lenovo: "WE SEE YOUR thin laptop (#SoLastYear) & raise you 3 modes, 2 USB ports & a higher-resolution touch display."


I notice it's really hard, near impossible, for you to admit Apple doesn't always make the best decisions. You really stand by and defend everything they do. You seem to be willing to go with their flow, no matter what. Such strong beliefs.

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jrswizzle said:

So they're supposed to stop coming up with new products to fix old problems?

Click to expand...

Wait a second. Didn't you once call out Samsung for doing EXACTLY this? Didn't you implore them to fix TouchWiz and to focus on fixing the shortcomings of their main flagship products before venturing into other territories?

You sure did.

Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is a hypocrite.

In all honesty guys, what does .3mm and a half pound of weight matter? You can't put it in your pocket and my key ring probably weighs more than either of them. It is all dependent on what you do with it, and either one of those laptops would work great for what 95% of people use laptops for. Neither of them will get to facebook and gmail faster than the other, and they both run most basic programs and can watch videos/listen to music.

you're right, both for phones and laptops thinness is a scam to raise prices. it's a new marketing trend that nobody needs. i rather have a bigger phone with more battery power than a thin slice of paper that lasts 1 hour.

as for laptops, bigger laptops have less thermal issues thus less throttling. the slimmer/thinner the laptop, usually the more heat it will have.

when are they going to stop trimming down our portables/mobiles? like honestly i really don't want to hold a piece of paper as my computer, it will wobble and flop around. the iphone 6 bends. i'm wondering if galaxy s6 will bend...

oh ya and browse this

https://play.google.com/store/apps/category/PERSONALIZATION

you can't customize the iphone whatsoever, the iphone feels like you are renting it rather than owning it. it's apples way or the highway.

I think this is all kind of hilarious! I switched from iOS during the iPhone 4 period. I went to the Note 2, then the Note 3, and even the Note 4. However, I just recently went back to iOS to the 6+. I am happy with my decision and love the quality of the Apple product. I even went to the iPad Air 2.

I got bored with Android just like I got bored with Apple. When I switch to something I switch big time.

When I went to Samsung I collected:

3 Samsung pc's
5 Samsung Tablets
10 Samsung TV's
2 Samsung Watches
9 Samsung phones

Now grant it, some of these are used in my business but I think you get the idea that I was a die hard Samsung / Android fan. There are things like multi tasking, removable battery, sd card, ability to customize, sendind a mms while talking on the phone, and and a few other things I miss, but I am glad to be back to Apple and "Yes" I will be getting the Apple Watch too.

I have to admit though...that Samsung S6 is one "Sexy Beast!" If the Note 5 looks like that, I could jump ship to Android again.

My point is, their all GREAT just use whatever fits your lifestyle best.

you really don't need to have that much brand loyalty... you could of bought different tablets and phones and tvs etc... why just samsung? they aren't gods, neither is apple.

out of all the things you listed, i only switched from mac laptop to msi laptop (msi is a company from taiwan) at the time of my purchase, the msi gaming laptop was cheaper than the asus rog, but that has changed recently (competition!) and my current iphone 5 will be switched to probably samsung s6 since i can get it for only 150$ (canadian money... so thats cheap nowadays)

whats the point of having tablets and watches? isn't laptop and phone enough?

This thread is going to have a great deal of bickering so I'll give my opinion before it gets locked or cleaned.

1) You live in an Apple centric world why would you want to break the ecosystem for something shiny? Just get an iPhone they're huge and ugly but they work with the rest of your stuff.

2) Why on earth do you want to edit videos and photos on a 15" screen (yes everyone is going to tell me how they do and it's wonderful) and if you're going to hook it up to an external screen to do the actual editing why a portable? Why not buy a decent screen and a cMP it'll be cooler quieter and faster.

soulsyphon said:

oh ya and browse this

https://play.google.com/store/apps/category/PERSONALIZATION

you can't customize the iphone whatsoever, the iphone feels like you are renting it rather than owning it. it's apples way or the highway.

Click to expand...

I have to agree with this. After switching from the iPHone 6 to the OnePlus, I really appreciate how far customizing goes. It's not just about how the device looks, it's actually about how the device operates. Customizing it so that it knows you and understands your needs better makes for an overall better experience.

epicrayban said:

I have to agree with this. After switching from the iPHone 6 to the OnePlus, I really appreciate how far customizing goes. It's not just about how the device looks, it's actually about how the device operates. Customizing it so that it knows you and understands your needs better makes for an overall better experience.

Click to expand...

It's all about the eye candy. We like things that look good and suit our taste at the moment, when really it has nothing to do with functionality. In my experience, too much eye candy takes a toll on battery life, which decreases functionality. Anyone who added a motion background to their Android device will know this first hand. As far as functionality goes, the only advantage that Android has is that you can sideload apps without the Google Play store. This is good for small developers who want to write their own apps, but it can be an issue in that you can download junk filled with viruses for android. If you stick to the apps that come in the respective App Stores, both devices will function about the same, and have a similar selection of apps to choose from.

epicrayban said:

Why should it mean a thicker laptop?

Lenovo: "WE SEE YOUR thin laptop (#SoLastYear) & raise you 3 modes, 2 USB ports & a higher-resolution touch display."
Image

I notice it's really hard, near impossible, for you to admit Apple doesn't always make the best decisions. You really stand by and defend everything they do. You seem to be willing to go with their flow, no matter what. Such strong beliefs.

Click to expand...

I should've also added - if it meant a thicker laptop and/or less battery life. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but it would seem that all available space in the new 12" MB is taken up by battery cells. Adding an additional port with the accompanying hardware would lessen the amount of battery in the machine.

I'm just assuming Apple did it this way to both maximize portability and battery life. The two things that are most important to me. I could be wrong - they could've arbitrarily left out a port that could easily fit without any sacrifice whatsoever.....but a company worth hundreds of billions doesn't usually make arbitrary decisions like that. Whether people like the reasons behind their decisions or not, there are always reasons.

It's not belief - simply trust based on history. I've never known Apple to do anything arbitrarily - always with a purpose. I choose to continue that trust here unless iFixit says "There's plenty of room in this laptop for an additional port."

It's called, not jumping to conclusions.

Wait a second. Didn't you once call out Samsung for doing EXACTLY this? Didn't you implore them to fix TouchWiz and to focus on fixing the shortcomings of their main flagship products before venturing into other territories?

You sure did.

Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is a hypocrite.

Click to expand...

Fixing their OS moving forward and fixing a hardware defect on a 4 year old computer are not the same thing.....

If OSX had some major flaw and caused problems moving forward, I would say they need to fix it. Hell, I've also said they need to fix how iOS handles email attachments.

Apple also has a FAR smaller device line footprint than Samsung - there's a difference between releasing 1 new product line while issues exist on an old piece of hardware versus releasing various product lines with the very OS that needs fixing.

Come now....I know you're attempting to discredit me but instead of blindly entering the fray, try to think critically. To Samsung's credit, I've read they've taken steps to de-bloat TouchWiz. That's fantastic. They've also seemed to consolidate design and product lines.

I'm not a hypocrite, nor am I saying anything here that isn't true. All of those accusations in the post I responded to are filled with opinions and generalizations. Apple isn't perfect, of course not. They've had some stability issues here with iOS 8 - but from my experience, they adjusted and fixed things rather quickly. I don't really have any problems.

As for the hardware stuff that Apple supposedly told this guy they wouldn't fix....well, I feel for you. But moving forward what are they supposed to do? How long did it take to realize this defect in a 3 year old machine? If you had AppleCare, it would be covered no matter what. I find it hard to believe Apple simply said "screw you" to this guy....

But hey, like everyone, he can choose whom he buys from. That's our ultimate power as consumers. Just know that if someone if going to share some horror story that doesn't fit with my experience (or the experience of anyone I know), I'm going to go ahead and share an additional view.

We are, after all, looking for balance here correct? For one to make an informed decision, one must see multiple sides. I simply provided the opposing side and asked for clarification on the poster's part.

After reading what he wrote, I was going to respond because someone who feels that way won't change their mind and it's not my job to care or try.

Stick to iOS if you can't live with the services or out of its ecosystem.

If you really are curious of Android, try something basic and cheaper like a Moto G. See if you can live without Apple's ecosystem. If you can't, then switch back to iOS. If you can and your only complaints is hardware-related like battery and camera which isn't completely Android's fault, then you can try a better Android device with better hardware.