Why I am shopping for the iPhone 16 over the Pixel 9

When Google revealed the Pixel 9 lineup in August it was loads sooner than anticipated, and that was most likely accomplished with one factor in thoughts: the recently-announced iPhone 16. As a lot consideration as Google’s Pixel gadgets get in tech media, the iPhone continues to be the king of the North American market, and launching a few months early could have helped Google churn up extra publicity and gross sales. We’ll have to attend and see if that call paid off.

Personally, nonetheless, I really feel that each one of Google’s efforts haven’t helped. I am nonetheless going to be shopping for an iPhone 16 this month as an alternative of a Pixel 9 or Pixel 9 Pro. I’ve acquired a couple of good explanation why, even when the overriding one is not one thing I am terribly pleased with.

Apple’s walled backyard

There isn’t any escape but

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  iPhone 16

  This 12 months’s iPhone 16 line blurs the road between the “Professional” and the base-level iPhone by providing a brand new digital camera button and the Motion Button, alongside the A18 chip.

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  iPhone 16 Professional

  Apple’s iPhone 16 Professional line options a couple of notable upgrades over final 12 months’s iPhone 15 Professional, together with a devoted digital camera button, a brand new A18 Professional chip, a much bigger display screen, and a number of other AI-powered Apple Intelligence options.

I’ve owned and loved a number of Android telephones up to now, and nonetheless personal a OnePlus 9 5G. However I’ve mainlined iPhones because the iPhone 6, and Apple’s ecosystem hooks are dug in deep. I ultimately picked up an Apple Watch, which has turn into a vital part of my weightlifting and works solely with iPhones. I typically use my iPad Professional to handle calls and texts, and I typically management media on an Apple TV and HomePod with both my iPhone or Watch. My good dwelling setup was once depending on HomeKit, too — the one cause I’ve shifted to different platforms is that Apple’s software program has abruptly refused to detect my equipment.

Might I transition again to utilizing an Android cellphone full-time? Definitely. I benefit from the fashionable Android interface, and being a tech journalist, I understand how to port important apps and knowledge. However there is no sturdy incentive to try this, and I might lose out on conveniences I’ve turn into accustomed to. I might need to spend a large chunk of cash on a brand new Garmin watch simply to maintain health knowledge going. I might moderately not let Apple monopolize my digital life, do not get me mistaken — however its dark patterns have a grip on me.

There’s extra to photographs and movies than prime specs

Snapping on the proper second

Apple

I was a professional photographer, and I nonetheless closely use the picture and video tech on any cellphone I get. One factor I’ve discovered over time is that you need to by no means obsess over specs — it hardly issues if a digital camera sensor has an additional 2 megapixels if its interface means you miss the shot. So, whereas the Pixel 9 has superior numbers in some areas, like a 50-megapixel main shooter, I am extra excited in regards to the Digital camera Management button on the iPhone 16.

It will imply lacking fewer moments, which is all of the extra crucial given my loopy household life and hobbies. In actual fact, I am presently leaning in the direction of iPhone 16 Pro, which is able to later get a two-stage shutter on the Digital camera Management, letting you lock focus and publicity. That is a function I did not even notice I missed from my professional cameras.

There are issues I might like to have from the Pixel 9 Pro, akin to better zoom and shutter pace choices, however I will say it proper right here — I am not an enormous fan of Google’s picture algorithms. I are inclined to choose the iPhone’s output, which feels much less synthetic to me, despite the fact that I do know there’s loads of processing occurring. I am even much less keen on Google’s emphasis on AI modifying, since I nonetheless care in regards to the authenticity of a photograph’s content material. I would alter ranges and shade grading, however I hate the concept of eradicating objects from a scene, a lot much less inserting issues that have been by no means there. I do it with Photoshop solely when there is no different selection.

Would something persuade me to change?

Unlikely anytime quickly

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  Google Pixel 9

  Pixel 9 encompasses a 6.3-inch show and a well-known design. It helps the addition of a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens to its rear digital camera array alongside Google Gemini and AI options.

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  Pixel 9 Professional XL

  The Pixel 9 Professional XL is Google’s first cross at an iPhone 15 Professional Max-style large smartphone, with a Tensor G4 and new AI options like Pixel Screenshots. It is out there on August twenty second.

The ball could also be in Apple’s court docket with this one. As a lot as I complain about ecosystem lock-in, it is doing sufficient proper — on prime of its digital camera tech, iOS is straightforward to make use of, and its A-series processors are among the quickest within the enterprise. The Pixel 9 lineup is aggressive, but there is no one function that screams “must-have” — Google’s bluster about AI is simply that. And it is solely a killer function that will persuade individuals like me to sacrifice tons of or 1000’s of {dollars} in product investments.

I might be persuaded to change if Apple made some catastrophic error or Google supplied one thing smartphone consumers have been demanding for many years, like sensible multi-day battery life. Quietly, I have been hoping that the rising stress on Apple’s competitive practices may lead to wild fantasies, akin to having the ability to use Apple Watches with Android. I am not holding my breath — however a person can dream of a world the place there are fewer obstacles to altering manufacturers.