Yes, our week of comparing things that exist to those that don’t continues as the Houston Chronicle’s Dwight Silverman asks “Which is the better buy: the next iPhone or a Galaxy S III?” (tip o’ the antlers to Mike McConnell).
So … uh … Dwight.
You do know that the next iPhone isn’t even …
Yeah, you know.
As you know, I’m considering switching from an iPhone to an Android smartphone. I’ll make my decision once I see the next iPhone, which may or may not be unveiled on Sept. 12.
What the hey?! Does Texas have bait-and-switch laws?
…if the next iPhone is my choice, I’m going to bump up to the 64-gigabyte model. My iPhone 4 has 32-GB of storage, and because I’ve got nearly 20 GB of music on it, the phone is almost full. And that’s not all my music – I’ve probably got another 5 GB of songs that I am not syncing to the device to save space.
The Macalope’s new name for you is “Nutty edge-case guy.” Or maybe “Nutty edge-case guy who doesn’t doesn’t know how Smart Playlists work.”
I’m presuming Apple will keep the same price structure with the next iPhone…
Gosh, who knew analyzing products that don’t exist yet would be so fraught with uncertainty?
Silverman notes that by buying a 16GB Samsung Galaxy S III and a 64GB memory card, he can get an 80GB phone for less than a 32GB iPhone. And he doesn’t even mention all the space he’ll save by having fewer quality apps to choose from!
In addition, I could sell my iPhone 4 to recoup much of this cost. If I was to unlock it and sell it on eBay, it could fetch well over $300.
Huh. Why is it that the resale value of iPhones is so high while the resale value of Android phones is so much lower? OH, WELL.
Still, the biggest factors in my decision to switch or stay put will be the quality of the hardware and software, as well as the overall ecosystem.
Then why are we even having this discussion?
If Apple offers a cutting-edge iPhone that leaps ahead of the top Android devices, the price won’t matter all that much.
Well, it all depends on how you define “cutting edge.” If cutting edge is some features-based list of checkboxes, enjoy your Android phone. If, however, cutting edge is the phone with the best overall user experience …
[Editors’ Note: In addition to being a mythical beast, the Macalope is not an employee of Macworld. As a result, the Macalope is always free to criticize any media organization. Even ours.]