What kind of equivalent program does Google offer for Pixels?
My observation was simply that Apple gets so much hate that doesn't seem to be good faith criticism. It's just hardcore antifanboyism.
Example: https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisugly/comments/tiihwr/correcte...
Probably almost no fanboys remember this deceptive chart that suggests the M1 is equally powerful as the highest end discrete GPU, while still using 200 Watts less power. But Apple haters like me do.
BTW I'm open to hating on other companies in the same industry, like Google for providing bad service with Google Fi and their smartphone line.
> Just admit you hate Apple
I do. I also hate Google (QC issues), Samsung (too many to type out), Motorola/Lenovo (everything from cost cutting to poor updates), Asus (questionable bootloader relocking restrictions), Sony (bootloader unlocking purposely gimping cameras), modern Nokia (no unlocking at all), Microsoft (everything with Nokia/Steve Ballmer)... does that help? I hate everyone to different degrees for different reasons.
Ohh.. btw there's a good bit of suspicion that Apple's efforts are just greenwashing/its right to repair equivalent. Please see Louis Rossman's channel for more info. He makes a living off repairing Apple hardware (mainly Macs).
to put it another way, the cattle are free to graze on grass or grain, so long as they remain to chew the cud on Cooks farm.
But given that, I will use them.
We’d all be happier if we just gave up on all our hopes, but I also feel it’s important to keep acknowledging shitty things are still shitty.
It's so tempting to reject practically every large company because of their missteps, but time heals all wounds.
When it comes to phones, the only "true" manufacturer that is repairable and open is fairphone - and they too got mired in controversy over their last phone [2]
With that said, truth is a lot of these cos like locking down their phones, and if you're looking for a Libre-free experience, I'd recommend a Pixel. I myself use a Pixel 5 (it was the last flagship Pixel with an off the shelf chip... Tensor has tons of bugs apparently). The 5a is also out and fairly similar.
My second choice would be Xiaomi, but specifically either their Mi flagships (where there's almost no cost cutting), or Redmi which are very budget and also value for money. I'd highly recommend flashing the Mi-EU ROM if you can, and custom ROMs are fortunately fairly common. Avoid the A series for weird bugs.
Beyond this unfortunately it gets tougher. Older OnePlus were decent but recent phones aren't. Samsungs can be fantastic if you're cool with an ecosystem that's nearly as locked in as Apple's with nowhere as much of adoption.
(Quick edit addition - for laptops Framework is decent but I'd honestly recommend spinning up a cyberdeck/an Intel NUC with a type C powerbank, portable monitor and BT mouse/Keyboard. Not convenient, sure, but unlikely to fail and easy to fix if failed. Commerical laptops that don't have shitty hinges? Maybe ThinkPads, perhaps Dell Latitude and perhaps Panasonic Toughbooks. HP ProBooks can be okay but HP can burn in hell for all I care. I legitimately hate them more than Apple (which isn't an easy task), but that story's for another day.)
If you want to continue this conversation please let me know, I'd recommend another platform (for ease of typing/messaging).
1 - apparently Lenovo at one point realized it was cheaper to RMA ThinkPads than to QC them (as per what I read on r/Thinkpad). What fun (if it's actual, which, given Lenovo, is quite probable).
2 - because they dropped the headphone jack conveniently as the released wireless earbuds. Yes, waterproof headphone jacks are a thing even on budget phones like the 2015 Moto G3 (~$300?)
After dealing with PC laptops for more than a decade (my first laptop was when I was 19), I finally switched to a MacBook Pro last year and could not be happier. I've had "top" PC products in the past: Razer, X1 Carbon, etc, etc. None even remotely come close in battery life, performance, ease of use, or support.
I switched to Apple phones around 6 years ago, and it's the same story. I still miss my HTC One, but other than that one phone, nothing compares to my iPhone.
To put in context, people probably had the same views around 1994~2000 as Windows was the only platform providing a reasonable GUI, wide hardware support, a vibrant app ecosystem and support from any computer shop at any price point you could wish for.
I still think people hating Microsoft weren’t wrong per se, and we can look at the bright side as well as the shitty side at the same time.
Even having used punch-hole cameras and OLED displays, that handset was just amazing. The way the curved back would melt into your hand, the perfect button placement and incredible speaker setup... that thing felt like a phone from 5 years in the future. The software experience was fairly clean and beat the hell out of Samsung at the time (and arguably, today), and the performance was really solid. The screen was a gorgeous 1080p LCD panel that made comparable iPhone models look like a kid's toy, and both cameras were super competitive for the time. I'm just gushing at this point, but that phone was really something else. If they made a new one with zero changes except a more recent chipset and better storage, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
And who could forget the price? All that for ~400 bones in the US, in 2013? You could even land it cheaper if you bought it on contract with a carrier! They really just don't make them like they used to, even my S10e doesn't quite fill the void.
Things have changed?
So unless you want something specific (video games, a Windows desktop app, ...), I think they just both work. I'm guessing even Linux on a mac is probably okay (since so many people have the exact same hardware as you...)
I am not an Apple fan and I welcome this self-repair initiative and I think their service manuals are quite nicely written but I worry that this may just be their another PR stunt:
1. many repairs can't be done without their direct assistance: "A System Configuration step may be required at the end of your repair. System Configuration is a postrepair software tool that completes the repair for genuine Apple parts. The repair manual will indicate if System Configuration is required. You will need to contact the Self Service Repair Store support team by chat or phone to initiate System Configuration.". They are not providing this software.
2. nothing said about logic board (yet?) and it is not uncommon that logic board goes bad (and also no component-level repair, especially USB connectors which often go bad but component-level repair is not really something I would expect at this time)
3. older devices not covered so the situation is unchanged for those
Maybe that will improve over time, though.
https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/...
Much less their support horizons (horrible).
Ignoring the bloatware they ship with of course (not all but many).