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

When Google revealed the Pixel 9 lineup in August it was lots sooner than anticipated, and that was in all probability executed with one factor in thoughts: the recently-announced iPhone 16. As a lot consideration as Google’s Pixel units 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 every one of Google’s efforts haven’t helped. I am nonetheless going to be shopping for an iPhone 16 this month as a substitute 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 is not any escape but

• 

  iPhone 16

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

• 

  iPhone 16 Professional

  Apple’s iPhone 16 Professional line options a couple of notable upgrades over final yr’s iPhone 15 Professional, together with a devoted digicam button, a brand new A18 Professional chip, an even bigger display screen, and several other AI-powered Apple Intelligence options.

I’ve owned and loved a number of Android telephones previously, and nonetheless personal a OnePlus 9 5G. However I’ve mainlined iPhones for the reason that iPhone 6, and Apple’s ecosystem hooks are dug in deep. I ultimately picked up an Apple Watch, which has turn out to be a vital part of my weightlifting and works completely with iPhones. I usually 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 sensible house setup was depending on HomeKit, too — the one purpose I’ve shifted to different platforms is that Apple’s software program has immediately refused to detect my equipment.

May I transition again to utilizing an Android telephone full-time? Actually. I benefit from the fashionable Android interface, and being a tech journalist, I understand how to port important apps and information. However there is not any sturdy incentive to do this, and I would lose out on conveniences I’ve turn out to be accustomed to. I would should spend a large chunk of cash on a brand new Garmin watch simply to maintain health information going. I would reasonably not let Apple monopolize my digital life, do not get me incorrect — however its dark patterns have a grip on me.

There’s extra to images and movies than high specs

Snapping on the proper second

Apple

I was a professional photographer, and I nonetheless closely use the photograph and video tech on any telephone I get. One factor I’ve discovered over time is that it’s best to by no means obsess over specs — it hardly issues if a digicam 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 Digicam Management button on the iPhone 16.

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

There are issues I would like to have from the Pixel 9 Pro, resembling larger zoom and shutter velocity choices, however I will say it proper right here — I am not an enormous fan of Google’s picture algorithms. I are likely to favor the iPhone’s output, which feels much less synthetic to me, though I do know there’s loads of processing occurring. I am even much less keen on Google’s emphasis on AI enhancing, since I nonetheless care in regards to the authenticity of a photograph’s content material. I’d modify ranges and coloration grading, however I hate the concept of eradicating objects from a scene, a lot much less inserting issues that had been by no means there. I do it with Photoshop solely when there is not any different alternative.

Would something persuade me to change?

Not going anytime quickly

• 

  Google Pixel 9

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

• 

  Pixel 9 Professional XL

  The Pixel 9 Professional XL is Google’s first go at an iPhone 15 Professional Max-style large smartphone, with a Tensor G4 and new AI options like Pixel Screenshots. It is accessible 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 high of its digicam tech, iOS is easy to make use of, and its A-series processors are a number of the quickest within the enterprise. The Pixel 9 lineup is aggressive, but there is not any one characteristic that screams “must-have” — Google’s bluster about AI is simply that. And it is solely a killer characteristic that may persuade individuals like me to sacrifice lots of or 1000’s of {dollars} in product investments.

I may very well 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 strain on Apple’s competitive practices may end in wild fantasies, resembling 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 limitations to altering manufacturers.