A big factor is that carriers get to pick what OS you run on your phone. My understanding is that it was the end of Windows Phone when US carriers said they weren't going to activate any devices.

1. When I paired my AirPods Pro and my Beats Flex (more convenient for traveling) to my phone, they were automatically paired to and auto switch between my Mac, iPad, Watch and AppleTV.

2. When I get messages on my phone, they automatically appear and I can respond to them on my watch, iPad, Mac and in my car with CarPlay

3. When I go to the gym, run or get in the pool, I can leave my phone at home and still listen to music and accept calls on my Watch

4. Widgets from my phone show up on my Mac.

5. I can control my iPad from my keyboard and mouse paired to my Mac.

6. I can use my iPad as a second display with my Mac.

7. AirPlay works from iPhone /iPad to my AppleTV

8. I can copy and paste between my Mac, iPad and phone

9. I don’t think it’s really an argument that all Android tablets suck and Google has given up in the space.

10. CarPlay

11. My M2 MacBook Air runs cool, quiet, fast and battery last for 12 hours+

12. iCloud - I can drop my phone in the ocean, go to the Apple Store and get a replacement, log in and you can’t tell the difference between my new phone and old phone.

13. While this isn’t iPhone specific and you can do this with Android - Apple Pay from both my Watch and my phone

14. When I’m walking around in a city, having directions on my Watch means I don’t have to take my phone out.

It seems an AI phone is going to also lock you into its own walled garden. So I’m not sure what this would solve.

What kind of AI phone did you have in mind? As it stands, it seems AI is an app or OS integration to smartphones as we know them today. Anything else seems like it would be too compromised as a product.

I stay with Apple’s walled garden, because it seems like the best option in terms of hardware, software, and services. I’ve tried Android tablets, Windows laptops, and use Linux on and off for various things. I don’t like any of it as well as what Apple, and the 3rd party developers on Apple’s platforms, put out. If Apple were to horribly fumble the ball on privacy and sell out their customers (they are going in the wrong direction in a lot of ways), I would have to seriously consider leaving, but I honestly have no clue where I’d go.