History

My first smartphone was an iPhone 4. It had 8GB of storage and it was the white model. I loved that thing when I first got it. I was 16 at the time, so I didn’t really care about how distracting the device was for me. I’d download as many games as possible and as much music as possible (which wasn’t very much).

Eventually, I kept running into problems with the 8GBs of storage, and around the time I was looking for a new phone was the same time that iOS 7 came out (the one that completely redesigned iOS).

My Switch From iPhone to Android

I decided to make the switch to Android in 2014. I got a Moto X as my first android phone. My initial impression was “I love this phone, it has so many more features than the iPhone.” And that was true to a certain extent.

• The phone was more customizable (being a techy, I was always customizing things).
• The phones (and accessories) were cheaper. I felt like I got a better bang for my buck.
• Still had all the same apps (and quite a few were free on Android compared to iOS).
• Had extra features such as floating app windows, always on display, and even shaking the phone and turning on the flashlight.
• Direction integration to the Google suite, which at the time was extremely convenient as I went to College and they used the entire Google Workspace environment.

I owned 3 Android phones, a Moto X, a Moto X Pure, and a OnePlus 3T. It was after owning the last two that I was starting to see the problem with Android phones.

• Moto X Pure I’ve never had a screen break so many times. And when the screen broke, the digitizer did as well so I couldn’t use the phone anymore when the screen broke.
• Moto X Pure AND the OnePlus 3T worked horribly with Snapchat’s camera and Instagram’s camera (for stories). Everyone could tell you were an Android user.
• Each of these phones had terrible battery life after 1 year and would get extremely slow.
• I started not receiving calls and texts on the OnePlus 3T, and could never be 100% confident in the reliability of receiving calls if someone didn’t leave a voicemail.

Why I Switched back to iPhone

All of the features described above are mostly nice to have’s instead of NEED to have’s. The biggest things for me initially were call reliability and being able to use the camera directly with popular apps. After months of deciding, I figured “why not” try an iPhone. And if I don’t like it, I’ll switch back. Below are a few features that I found out very quickly were essential:

• Direct app integration with camera instead of screenshots of the screen (most android phones besides the Pixel have this problem).
• iMessage, AirDrop, and FaceTime.
• Products broke less easily and were cheaper to repair.
• Resale value is better (and it’s way easier to sell Apple products). This one is huge.
• It just works. I didn’t miss calls, texts, or other strange things nearly as frequently.
• AirPods (not the original reason I switched, but they are SO much better than the old-style Bluetooth headphones).

I missed out on many of the customization features and “cutting-edge” options with Android phones, but why did I care? Most of those features were either gimmicks or unnecessary. There was one feature that I was really bad at getting rid of, which was floating windows, as I found this VERY distracting often.

My Relationship with Windows

Now my relationship is very different with Microsoft Windows than it is with Android. I am an IT professional with almost a half decade of experience in the direct industry (with another half decade in education). My daily driver for my entire life has been Windows, and I consider myself a subject matter expert of Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and almost 11.

However, I was always curious about the macOS user group, mostly because for the longest time I didn’t understand them.

My only real exposure to MacOS was at church with our AV system, and then to occasional clients, I would have to set up in macOS at work. IT WAS ALWAYS A PAIN FOR ME.

However, it still didn’t pique my curiosity. I wanted so badly to try using iMessage or making calls from my computer. This just wasn’t possible on a Windows computer the same way it was on a Mac. I had no idea that making “text messages” from my computer was just the beginning.

Discovering MacOS - Why I Don’t Plan to Switch Back

On November 10, 2020, Apple announced the M1 chip. Around the same time, I was in the market to look to upgrade my personal desktop computer to something stronger, as I was trying to edit 4k footage on a computer I built out of miscellaneous parts.

The natural step for a Windows user was buying a Gaming PC with a beefy graphics card. The only problem was, if you were looking for computer parts at this time, everything was SO EXPENSIVE (good ole chip shortages they say).

I was looking at paying 1500$ for what I wanted to build. There was simply no way around it.

So because of this, I started to consider the alternative. I looked at the Mac Mini M1 and thought to myself “this computer is going to cost me 800-900$ brand new and work out of the box. Why would I not try that first instead of paying 1,500$ for something that isn’t going to be worth as much in 3 years?”

Again, I thought to myself “why not” and tried the Mac Mini M1.

And that’s when I figured out why people are Apple fanboys. I won’t go into the details of why in this article, but I will talk about that more this week.

This device was everything I was looking for, and it handled content like a beast. There were of course some difficulties, but I was starting the love the clean interface, the direct integration to my phone, and the surprising amount of customization I was able to apply to my Mac.

Eventually, I got a Mac for work as well, as I am now the Mac subject matter expert. I have found myself more and more inclined to use a Mac as it has features I can’t seem to move away from. I’ve tried to move back to Windows 11, but I just can’t seem to do it.

What I Love About macOS

Briefly, here are some features I LOVE in Mac that make it hard to consider going back:

• Direction integration with my iPhone. This list is endless and I probably could make a whole article on this.
• Spotlight search and tools like it to make my Mac painlessly easy to search.
• I can set my phone down and run everything from my computer if I want: iMessage, Facetime, Notes, calendar events, etc.
• No ads.
• Simplistic User interface. It starts bare bones to start, but I’ve actually found it more customizable than Windows.
• Runs smoother.
• Easy updates (and the absence of Windows update)
• Unix-based operating system.
• Better built-in tools that I’ve found very useful, such as screenshots, video recording etc.
• STILL CAN RUN WINDOWS IN PARALLELS or VMWARE HORIZON. (Windows can’t run macOS, but Macs can run Windows).

Deeper in the “Walled Garden”

Since I’ve switched, I’ve gone even farther than just the iPhone and Mac system. I’ve also switched my Smart home to Homekit, and gotten an Apple Watch, and an Apple TV for my TVs. I have found that the more I buy into the Apple ecosystem, the better the experience can be.

Closing

I plan on sharing more in the future, and convincing you WHY I think macOS is better for most people. I’ve found it to be the best user experience for me in my personal life and work, and I want others to be able to start using it as well (and find it just as useful).

If you found this helpful, consider following us on YouTube, Social Media, or joining the emailing list. Check me out at https://www.malachicorliss.com for all kinds of articles that will help you with tech, music, productivity, and more!

Seeya tomorrow,

Malachi Corliss