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As much as I might wish it wasn't true, iOS and the phones that run it are faster, better(1), and cheaper than the equivalent Android models and that's just the way it has been for the last 10 years. The only place Android phones meaningfully compete are on gimmicks (the folding or "gaming" phones that cost 1000+ dollars, and high refresh rate or wraparound screens) and the bottom-of-the-barrel sub-200-dollar phones, and I think the latter market segment does a lot to tarnish the halo effect the former products would otherwise enjoy. Same effect applies to laptops, which is part of why the affluent buy Macbooks rather than even more expensive Windows laptops.
And it's not really smoke and mirrors from a quality of materials (being solid aluminum slabs rather than plastic helps with this even though it means you need a machine shop to change the battery, and if you're keeping it for its full lifespan you will need to do this once) or performance standpoint either- that whole "we're going to make our own CPUs that are 4 years ahead of anything Qualcomm/Samsung are capable of" thing really paid off; so did the "we'll put an iPhone 13 in the shell of an iPhone 8, support it for 7 years, and sell it for Nexus/low-end Pixel money" thing. Unless you need some niche benefit or aren't well-off enough to take advantage of Boots Theory (and for 200 dollars there's always clearouts on the last-model SE anyway which still outperforms and will outlive any other device at that pricepoint because of that long support tail) there's really no reason to go with Android(2).
Oh yeah, and Apple Watches only work with iPhones so if you want one of those, well...
(1) Yes, you can't install system-wide adblock or root iPhones to keep them on software life support like you can with Android, and NewPipe doesn't exist for iOS which is a killer app in itself, but most people aren't technical enough to take advantage of that and it also subtly compromises the reliability of the phone as the versions get newer. It's also a massive pain in the ass to do it, too, since you have to erase all your software and data to flash a new ROM and it's generally more difficult and convoluted than installing Linux on a normal computer is.
(2) I understand the precedent that buying a locked-down appliance creates for computing devices from both a culture war (I'm pretty sure Gab still doesn't have an app) and actual war (though all phones are already pwned all the time because of the baseband processor- it's like Intel ME but a lot worse) standpoint, but at the end of the day (and I think a lot of custom Android ROM makers have realized this) phones are just VT-100s that go in your pocket and people only have so much time to become experts on their main connection to the outside world. Which, not coincidentally, is something a "stock" iPhone monoculture helps with; when you ask your friend how to do something they don't need to worry about whether it's stock Android, Samsung's S-Hit, or whatever other stupid Bonzi Buddy shell replacement the company you bought the phone from has forced upon you.
I think I should be offended but I don't honestly care 😁
I picked Android over iPhone because (1) I don't have that kind of money to waste on a phone (whatever about American prices, Irish prices are always going to be way higher for the same model) and (2) what I want a phone for is to make and receive calls and send and receive texts. I have an app to check the weather and I check my email. That's about the size of what I do on the phone, apart from some apps such as banking one and a couple others. I don't have Apple Pay or Google Pay or anything like that. My Samsung does all that for me. I don't need a fancier phone, so getting Apple (and I never went for the cult of Apple) would really just be showing off "hey I can afford this fancy phone".
Some people like Apple products and will swear by them and stick with them no matter what, and they probably are better (maybe less innovative than when they started out) but eh. If I do something stupid like drop this phone down the toilet or smash it, I'm only out a small amount of money, not a grand or so.
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