I’m Pre-Ordering The iPhone 13 Pro Max – Here’s Why

I was thinking of sticking with Pixel and getting the Pixel 6 Pro, but I changed my mind – I’m getting the iPhone 13 Pro Max instead

---

I’ve been using Android phones more or less exclusively for years now. Mostly Pixel phones. My current daily driver is the Pixel 5, and it is a brilliant phone in nearly all areas – from battery life to camera performance.

As a tech blogger, I’ve also tested a bunch of phones in the last 12 months – phones like the Samsung Galaxy S21, the RealMe GT, the OnePlus 9 Pro, and a bunch of OPPO and VIVO phones to name just a few. And they were mostly great.

So why am I switching to iPhone? Why not stick with Android, go with the Pixel 6 Pro which is shaping up to be one hell of an update. The main reason is that I fancy a change; I’ve been using Android for almost six years straight now – that’s a long time.

The last iPhone I used properly was the iPhone 6s Plus; that phone was my last daily-driver iPhone. I tested the iPhone 11, iPhone X, and iPhone XS range. But I didn’t use these phones for long; I was too into Android during this time.

Why Pre-Order The iPhone 13 Pro Max Then?

For a few reasons. The first is that I use a Mac, currently an iMac but I am switching to the Mac mini next month – I just need to find a decent monitor first. The second reason is Apple’s ecosystem. I know a lot of Android users hate the way Apple does things. But I’m not one of them.

I love how iPhone and Mac play nice. I prefer iPhone apps too; they’re usually better designed, have more features, and run smoother. I’m also really interested in Apple’s A15 CPU, a massively powerful SoC which promises to bring even more performance to the iPhone 13 range.

iPhones Last Much Longer Than Android Phones

I also like that you can run and use an iPhone for years and years and years. My iPhone SE – the OG model – still works. And my iPhone 6s, while no longer supported by Apple, still runs just fine.

Conversely, I’ve been using my Pixel 5 for less than 12 months and it is now starting to have issues.

Similarly, my OnePlus 7T died after 14 months of use; my Galaxy Note 9 no longer gets Android updates; and, finally, my Google Pixel 2 XL no longer switches on – its USB Type C port no longer works either.

Spotting a trend here? None of these Android phones were cheap. They all cost me quite a lot of money. But none of them lasted. They all started falling to bits after 12-18 months. Or they stopped getting Android updates. Either way, this is not what you want.

With iPhone, you’ll pay a massive premium – especially if you go with the iPhone 13 Pro Max. But the phone will last. It has 5G, a massively powerful chipset, a great camera and it will get iOS updates until well into the late-2020s, so you will be able to use it for at least the next 6 to 8 years if you wanted to.

Apple’s 5G iPhone is Now Fit For Purpose

I was tempted to get the iPhone 12, but I wanted to hold out and see how things played out with that phone. As expected, the battery life took a massive hit, thanks to 5G. I knew this would be the case; 5G is massively power-intensive, especially on first-gen modems.

With the iPhone 13 range, Apple’s had 12 months to fix this issue. And reports suggest that it has; the iPhone 13 – all the models – will use new, power-efficient modems and feature the biggest batteries ever used inside an iPhone. This should ensure parity with the iPhone 11’s battery performance.

This is all kind of boring so far, right? Battery life, reliability, 5G issues being fixed. What about the exciting stuff? Are there any new features on the iPhone 13 that I’m excited about? Of course, there’s plenty of things to get excited about on the iPhone 13 – things like 1TB storage options, the 120Hz ProMotion displays, faster charging, and, of course, updates to its camera module, most notably on the Pro models.

But the main reason is simple: I want a phone that I can use for at least the next several years without having to worry about issues, bugs, software support, and performance degradation. And for all of this, I am prepared to pay a premium.

And the reason I’m getting the iPhone 13 Pro Max instead of the cheaper iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro is that I like big displays and I want the best possible camera experience on offer. And in 2021, that means the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

I will also buy the iPhone 13 Pro Max outright via Apple’s finance program and run it on Mint Mobile’s Unlimited Plan – it’s $30 a month for unlimited data and calls.