I'm not sure if it's possible for Siri to work as well. Google knows everything there is to know about you and collects all that information. Siri has always minimized what it sends to Apple's servers, doing whatever processing it can on the phone. Siri anonymizes its queries, so nothing can be traced back to you. When Siri has no context except what it can find on the phone, it isn't possible for it to do better than a system that's dedicated to gathering as much as it can about you. Google knows where you were three years ago on a specific date. It knows where you went shopping two years ago. It knows what restaurant you went to six months ago. Siri... it knows nothing about you, except what it finds on the phone.
At those prices, I am tempted to pick one up. My concern is the ability to switch back and forth between it and my iPhone XS Max. I'm not opening a second line, but if it is a painless SIM swap, I will give it a shot.
Yes, MMS was mildly wide spread in 2007. I had it on BlackBerry.
Actually, Apple has been working on this very thing. I think it likely Apple has held off on deployment until their Maps dataset has been updated.
Apple doesn't participate in the low-end phone market, which is why they're profitable, so the answer to your question is no. They aren't going to make a phone like that. The Pixel 3a and 3aXL use low-cost parts, such as the Snapdragon 670 (top end phones will use the Snapdragon 855). A phone that uses the most up-to-date, top-end parts cannot be found for that price. Google doesn't sell phones to make money. They sell phones to gather your information. It's doubtful they make any money at all selling these phones.
I doubt Apple would ever do that due to privacy concerns. Siri doesn't collect your info while Google does. Therefore Apple will never allow it to be the default. Even if this particular version of Google Assistant is designed to work on the phone, that doesn't mean it isn't still collecting all of your information it possibly can and sending it back to Google once your phone goes back online.
I've seen some previews on Android Q. Marques Brownlee has one up. So far, there isn't much to Q. I would think of Q as an iOS 12 where there aren't that many features in it. There are some screen changes. There is a screen recorder, finally, though it won't turn off until you reboot the phone. I would guess most of the changes in Q are under the hood.
The XR would slaughter the Pixel 3a, performance-wise. The Pixel 3a uses a far lesser Qualcomm 670 Snapdragon while high end Androids use the 855 Snapdragon. The Apple A12 processor used in the XR destroys the 855, let alone the 670. Androids also need about twice as much RAM as iPhones to get similar performance. The Pixel 3a has only 4GB of RAM. Typically Androids have 6GB or more. This phone is not meant to compete with Apple's phones. It's meant as a low-end to medium-end phone to compete against lesser Androids.
I was about to counter with the fact that the iPhone 7 is 3 year old phone (4? I can't remember), but you're right about the performance. Since the Pixel 3 has a mid-range processor I do wonder if it's on par or better than the iPhone 7.
On the flip side of that argument, I would say that the iPhone Xr is competing with phones two-thirds of its price. Because it certainly is not competitive where the Android offerings its price point. The only thing it has going for it is it's silicon, and frankly in 2019 even mid-range processor offerings are plenty enough for what people do with their phones. Apples chips are, tragically, not used to their full potentials.
Nobody needs a phone. It's a nice-to-have. As for whether we WANT the best hardware, that's for the individual to decide. If you'd rather have a lower price, by all means get a low-end Android. It will make calls and surf the web just fine. The nice part is that there is a lot to choose from.
Apple has been working on AR maps for the better part of a decade now...
