I got a flagship iPhone 12 a few months back. I think it was about $700 with the storage option I got. My iPhone 6S had an extremely poor battery life after being used and abused for 6 years.
Honestly, it was super dumb and frustrating that Apple "reduces e-waste" by not including a charger with their new phones. The USB-C to Thunderbolt cable was just not compatible with the old charging brick I had for my 6, so I had to fork out money for a new one. (really big brained move there, Apple) Removing the home button seems to be a solid choice because it removes a moving part that constantly gets used in the iOS environment. When working for a carrier's support team, it did happen sometimes that older iPhones would either get a worn out home button or get gunk in it and it wouldn't work.
The part of why I stick with Apple for my phones is because of how well the cloud integrates with my PC and Mac. It is treated as an extra drive in both Finder and Explorer, which is really convenient. I don't have to open my browser to grab photos from my Google Drive and can edit photos offline if I ever find myself without WiFi. The main reason I stick with Apple's environment is the long-term support is just simply unrivaled. Android phones barely make it 3 years for software updates and support. Even if an iPhone from 2015 can't fully take advantage of the software updates that come with new versions of iOS, Apple at least gives you an option to take that update. If you don't care for updates to your device, I get it, but I do like getting security patches. I'm a security sperg, so that's why it matters to me.
My criticism with Apple is the lack of repair options. I would have continued using my iPhone 6S if I didn't need to pay for battery + repair. At that point, I'm just going to buy a whole new phone. I would rather be able to buy a battery and swap it in to replace the old one. Hell, I miss the days of carrying multiple batteries in my pocket and just swapping out if the first one died. I'm hoping
Fairphone takes off in the US or at least gets more cutting edge options. If I could make it my next phone, I would certainly do so. I love the concept of a phone that I can just upgrade modules on if I'm unhappy with something. It also seems to have long-term Android support up to 5 years, which is pretty substantial and counters one of my Android criticisms. It also supports custom firmware outside of the Android sphere, which means Linux on this phone is possible. I would love to have custom apps again because I'm tired of only having official apps and being stuck with assloads of ads for Youtube.
In summary, current phone is an iPhone 12, would like Fairphone in the future.
