If the thread had been 5 years I think you would be right to pick Apple for lowest TCO including updates. The time period is 3 years however and there are Android smartphones that receive updates for that long so will likely be able to find an Android phone with a lower TCO. It gets a little more complicated if resale value is included in the TCO but I think certain Android phones will come out slightly ahead anyway.
My recommendation also factors in usability over 3 years.
From my experience, Android devices degrade faster in terms of how slow they become; the UX and UI are less responsive and they can't keep up with newer applications.
While I agree that there is an "Apple Tax", the retained performance of iPhones is really surprising, and that's why I feel they make a good value.
Some of my folks have (as some of yours might as well) iPhones 6s and 7 which have been running with absolutely zero issues. Given that the 6s is 6 years old now, I find that very impressive.
The thread looks to mention best "value", and not just lowest TCO. If he wants lowest TCO then Android for sure will win since it occupies the lowest price brackets that Apple doesn't even try to compete in.
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If the thread had been 5 years I think you would be right to pick Apple for lowest TCO including updates. The time period is 3 years however and there are Android smartphones that receive updates for that long so will likely be able to find an Android phone with a lower TCO. It gets a little more complicated if resale value is included in the TCO but I think certain Android phones will come out slightly ahead anyway.
My recommendation also factors in usability over 3 years.
From my experience, Android devices degrade faster in terms of how slow they become; the UX and UI are less responsive and they can't keep up with newer applications.
While I agree that there is an "Apple Tax", the retained performance of iPhones is really surprising, and that's why I feel they make a good value.
Some of my folks have (as some of yours might as well) iPhones 6s and 7 which have been running with absolutely zero issues. Given that the 6s is 6 years old now, I find that very impressive.
I agree with this post, it's definitely one of the advantages Apple has over the Android ecosystem.
The thread looks to mention best "value", and not just lowest TCO. If he wants lowest TCO then Android for sure will win since it occupies the lowest price brackets that Apple doesn't even try to compete in.
Yes, that was implied in the post I replied to. It was in mine as well, hopefully that clears up any confusion.