it depends - how do you use your phone?

for example - if you know you will drop your phone, then otter box and the like are they to go.

for me personally - I’m extremely careful, the chances of me dropping my phone are very slim, but on the other hand, I do care about cosmetic damage, so my favorite is the apple silicone case - it offers only basic drop protection but it leaves almost no area of the phone exposed, and has microfiber lining that traps dirt and prevents it from scratching the phone

Hi!

I’m just like you - one of those people who happens to noice every single little cosmetic defect, and sometimes it can drive me insane.

with that said, I have good and bad news for you:

the good news is that apple has an awesome return policy so if you decide to replace it you can, more than once even.

the bad news is that these are mass produced items, every single one of them will have some kind of defect somewhere, so you won’t get you perfect device. those who say otherwise are just blissfully ignorant.

with that in mind- I’d recommend you set yourself the bar for what is considered “unforgivable” - for me it is screen damage and things that are large enough that I see them during my everyday use of the device.

don’t forget to update on your decision and outcome, good luck!

I will address your concerns in regard to both mobile and computer repairability:

repairability of mobiles - this is a universal problem - mobile phones have to be so portable that when you don’t use them you don’t even notice they’re here - that means that you have to pack as many components as possible in the least amount of space possible - that means that a lot of times components will be not only glued soldered together, but will actually be part of the same integrate circuit, to save space. this is universal - most phones receive a score of 4, only a few receive a higher than that, and they are mostly niche devices where this is the part of their premise. the reason iPhones do not receive a repairability score of 7 is because of the software lockdown, where apple limits the functionality of non-verified parts. I actually believe apple handles the software lockdown in a way that maintains a good balance between privacy and right to repair, where if a non-verified component is recognized, the user gets a notification and features related to that component that could have an impact on the users privacy are disabled.

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repairability of computers - it’s true indeed that in the days of the intel “all-flash architecture” MacBooks repairability was abysmal because apple chose form over function - and you can see that best in the trash can Mac Pro where components that should have been upgradable we’re soldered to maintain the sleek and compact form factor. since then apple listened to it’s customers and today the situation is very different.

a lot of the reparability issues of the Mac lineup stems from the use of apple silicon - the apple silicon has what they call a unified memory architecture which basically demands that the RAM will be a part of the SOC’s integrated circuit, that’s true for even the Mac Pro which is extremely modular. the storage indeed soldered on the motherboard for laptops and Mac mini in order to save space, but for the Mac Studio and Mac Pro the storage is removable. other than that - overall all the Mac lineup is quite modular and easy to repair hardware wise but the software lockdown issue exists here as well.

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overall, even if the move towards repairability was forced on apple by legislator, I still think it’s a move I the right direction and will allow for cheaper and quicker repairs as apple moves towards in-store repairs instead of replacements and allows 3rd parties and personal users to order genuine parts and repair manuals.

repairability is a huge point in luxury products. the fact that it very easy to get a luxury watch or a luxury car serviced is a part of it.

watches for example are marked as heirlooms to be passed down across the generations, and as one it is meant to stay in good condition for a long time. Rolls Royce takes pride in the fact that 65% of all cars they ever made are still on the road. for a product to withstand such a lengthy amount of time it must be easily serviceable.

the problem with tech products is that they get outdated after a (relatively) short amount of time, so servicing them for a long time becomes unprofitable.

the situation with other manufacturers is much worse, I had a comparatively amazing experience with apple

actually - regarding developer license pricing and the the cut they take from app sales revenue - I find that fair, because unlike Google, Apple:

- has actual humans go over and verify every app submission to the App Store- their job costs money

- has way more polished developer tools, Xcode is unmatched and swift is such a dream to use that schools use swift playgrounds to teach programming to children. and let’s not even talk about the fact that they made swift open source.

- has no fragmentation, which allows it’s API’s to take full advantage of both hardware and software.

also, their app store and billing and subscription management tools are all managed by Apple so app developers have much much less work compared to android developers on that aspect as well. the way I see it small developers actually gain from that - if they had to take care of all the billing and subscription aspects they would have paid much more than the cut apple takes now. larger developers (Epic, Spotify, Netflix) have the means to handle billing and subscriptions in house without the need to outsource it, so they try to bypass Apple’s billing service by pretending to be the underdog, and hoping that no one will notice they are also large tech companies with a nice profit margin.

no, the amount of apple product that come out of the factory with big flaws that affect its day to day use is at most on par with the competition if not much less.

what i’m talking about is for example the huge amount of people complaining on reddit their brand new iPhones have dust in their camera lenses or their screens, scratches and scuff in various places out of the box, and the reaction is “for a product that cost x$ this is unacceptable”, while for Samsung’s flagship at the same price point, there are barely any such complaints, and for the few that do complain, the reaction is “just use it, it’s a tool that’s meant to be used”

this is a good argument in favor of a completely modular phone.

you’re right,

the way I saw it the pixel 8 pro was in line with the iPhone 15 pro and the pixel 8 was in line with the regular iPhone 15, because there seemed to be major difference not just in screen size but in camera, specs, screen type and exclusive features.

but for a lot people the main differentiating factor is indeed the screen size

this is a huge part of it. I allow myself to be more critical of apple, and to expect products to not have even the smallest of blemishes because I know they have the means to do better even at their current manufacturing rate and still make a hefty profit

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happy cake day!

correct, but both the iPhone 15 pro and pixel 8 pro cost about the same.

happy cake day!

I don’t think so. no part of the pro line is manufactured in India, the regular iPhone 15 and 15 plus are the only models that have units made in India, but the pro suffers the same issue as the regular 15.

also - this kind of issues go way back, so in that regard I doubt it had an effect

the discoloration is probably because there is oil from your fingers on the area or it came into contact with water.

try to clean it with a damp microfibres cloth, if that doesn’t work try 70% isopropyl alcohol