Should I buy an iPhone in the spring-summer of 2022? Understanding reality

For the third month now, the global financial system has been seriously stormed. The Russian economy is also in the stage of global restructuring, caused by an unprecedented number of sanctions. But the restrictions imposed on the Russian Federation affected not only accountants and economists, but also ordinary Russians. They have lost many familiar things and services, the list of which continues to grow.

If it’s time for your smartphone to retire, then you might be thinking, “Should I buy an iPhone now? Will it be possible to fully use it? Maybe take a closer look at Android? These are the right questions that we will try to discuss in this material.

Prices

March 2022 will keep the “120 rubles per dollar” label in our memory for a long time, and the price tag of 75,000 rubles for the basic iPhone SE (2020) will be a dream for a long time on especially disturbing nights. Sanctions attacked Russian trade turnover from two sides at once: the ruble exchange rate almost halved, while it became almost impossible to bring something into the country from abroad.

Another consequence of the sanctions is that Russians have begun to experience difficulties using familiar mobile applications. For example, several of the largest banks fell under sanctions and their software simply disappeared from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. It will no longer be possible to simply go in and download them to a smartphone, and it is not known how long this will last. Another example is the services that left Russia, also removed their utilities from stores, the same Spotify.

Yes, there are web versions for banks, and domestic replacement services for Spotify. But still, a smartphone is about convenience, almost the whole life of a modern person is there, and I really would not want to spend it there with frauds and “crutches”.

In general, when it comes to applications, Android now has a huge advantage – users of smartphones with this OS do not care at all about the presence or absence of anything on Google Play. Applications are easily installed using APK packages, and even successfully updated afterwards.

But with the iPhone, everything is pretty sad. There are ways to reinstall an app that has been removed from the App Store, but they are, shall we say, not for everyone. And if you have never used the application of Sberbank, Alfa Bank or, say, VTB before, then it essentially does not exist for you; you won’t be able to install it. It turns out that iOS users have become hostages of its main feature: closeness and security. Yes, the virus and the scam will not work, but the necessary applications now too.

In total, all the sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation have formed a rather sad picture for both iOS and Android.

For example, it has become impossible (or almost impossible) for users of both platforms to buy paid software on Google Play or the App Store, or make an in-game purchase. In the Google store, all payment methods fell off immediately and irrevocably, and Apple still somehow still has the ability to replenish an Apple ID account using a mobile phone balance.

It is not known how long such a method will live, but at the moment it exists – theoretically, you can replenish your Apple ID account immediately for a large amount for the future and live in peace for some time. The method of buying gift cards through QIWI has already gone into oblivion. On the other hand, I’ve only personally bought anything from the App Store a couple of times in my eight years of using Apple technology. I’m sure most of these people are.

Recently, the news “flew” that Google completely removes all paid applications for Russia from the store. But at this point, we recall the last block of the article – most Android users don’t care if Google Play is alive or dead.

A completely different story is emerging with the use of contactless NFC offline payments. Here, iPhone owners at one point simply found themselves without Apple Pay, and at the moment there are no ways to restore this possibility. If by some miracle someone has left in Wallet active map “MIR” – you can try to “fix” it there. In fact, now there is only one way to pay with an iPhone in stores – to hide a plastic card in its case. Somewhere deep in my heart, there is still a hope for a full-fledged launch of SBPey in Russia … hmm.

Google Pay is also pretty sad: Russian Visa and MasterCard cards are no longer supported, and MIR did not have time to introduce them at all. But technically, you can still pay with your Android smartphone. To do this, you can install the Mir Pay application, add any of your MIR cards to it, and spend money ahead.

It is difficult to say how far both conventional and sanctions policies will go. At the moment, the iPhone in Russian realities looks like a more limited device than any Android smartphone. If Western restrictions are not rolled back soon, everything will remain so.

The list of advantages of the iPhone still remains:

• a well-functioning ecosystem
• smoothness, speed, stability and security of iOS,
• Well, the habit, if you already have it.

But the shortcomings have increased in recent years:

• inability to use Apple Pay,
• troubles with paying for software in the App Store,
• problems with installing applications that are “objectionable” for Apple.
• the relatively high price is not a surprise, but in the current conditions this factor may also become decisive.

In the case of Android smartphones, we still get a device that:

• can fail and glitch a little more often than an iPhone,
• has little or no intuitive connection with your tablet or PC
• will require getting used to and getting used to when moving from iOS.

However, since the beginning of March 2022, Android has acquired a number of advantages for Russians:

• no problems installing any software
• no problem with NFC payment
• democratic prices.

Potentially, an Android smartphone looks more attractive to Russia due to its openness and customization. The vast majority of sanctions restrictions for the owner of Android are quite easy to get around. The only truly serious threat to them is the complete shutdown of Google Services in Russia. However, in this case, there are Huawei smartphones that have been using their own services for quite some time. Well, modified firmware, where without them.

iPhone owners are pretty dependent on Apple solutions. And the leadership of Apple, in turn, is highly dependent on the decisions of the US authorities. As a result, further “stupefying” our iPhones and iPads does not seem like an entirely unbelievable scenario. The company is unlikely to go for a complete shutdown of its services in Russia, but if this happens, then the devices will become almost unviable. In any case, the dependence of iOS on Apple is much stronger than Android on Google. This should be understood and taken into account.