Hey don't sell Apple short. They're about to invent the >5" smartphone this week. :D

Not all merchants. Only Starbucks, Banana Republic and other hipster friendly stores.

The demographics of iPhone users are different than that of Android OS users (and the gap may have even widened over time). The iPhone users tend to be wealthier than the Android phone users. That has an impact in how merchants find value in marketing to customers.

I use public transit a lot in Scandinavia, but are you sure the phones' own NFC feature was being used to pay for all of that? Lots of people store their transport cards to be affixed physically to the phone or the phone case/holder. And mobile phones in some places get optically scanned for a ticket.

My sense is that Apple is losing some of its glam (despite its demographic advantage in some ways) but that the hamster wheel will keep getting used. Becoming more vested into an electronic ecosystem increases the costs of migrating out and into another.

I was iOS for 5 years (new phone each year), Android for the last 2 (GS3, Note 3, Nexus 5 for international travel).

I'm going back. Being a Mac guy, I'm just tired of working so damned hard to get my stuff into my phone. I moved solely for a bigger screen. I love being able to change out my batteries and will miss a lot of what Android brings to the table. But I'm moving back.

(I've already sold our 2 Nexus 7 tablets cause I found myself reaching for my iPad Air 95% of the time. I bought my wife an iPad Air with the proceeds.)

I just hope the 5.5" model is announced next week or I'll have a tough decision to make.

On Topic -- I've had no problem using apps at Starbucks or any other merchant that supports them on either iOS or Android.

Even as an Android fan, I'm amazed you stayed away for 2 years. I don't think Android makes much sense at all for Mac users.

As a happy HTC one user, I'm actually looking forward to seeing what will be released.

My contract is up next year and if it's a 4.7" - 5" screen and priced right (I can live in hope..) then I might be persuaded to make the move.

It's not that I'm unhappy with android, but with some manufacturers bring out headline models twice a year, different skins, different quality builds etc it's becoming hard to find what I want - solid build, good battery, great camera, top of the range screen and knowledge that update will continue in a timely manner for the two year contract.

My current HTC one ticks most of the boxes expect for the camera. Samsung builds are rubbish (my partner has an S4 and has had a list of problems). Sony have, what should be, an Iphone killer but I hear a lot of lag and picture quality problems. So next year it will probably be Iphone unless HTC sort the camera problem.

Serious question - what did you do on the iPad that you couldn't do with the Nexus 7, and what vintage of Nexus 7 do you have?

I am the opposite and use my Nexus 7 almost exclusively vs my iPad 3 and iPad Mini. I find moving data on to the iOS devices (this extends to my iPod Touch) to be too much work (requies a PC) and getting content off it to be impossible (I don't have a paid file manager app on iOS, so it's possible that's a solvable problem).

I have two Nexus 7 2012 (WiFi and 4G) plus an iPad 3 and iPad Mini (WiFi and LTE), so definitely not an Apple hater, just distaste for some of the inconveniences.

I am a PC user so don't know how much having a Mac makes things easier, maybe iTunes works much better on MacOS (it stinks on Windows).

I'm with you, I still find my 2012 N7 to be a lot more user friendly than the Ipad. I do miss some of the better content (I subscribe to a magazine and their interactive version is only on Ipad) but the Ipad mini just seems a bit awkward to me.

What kind of stuff? Surely even a Mac has drag and drop?

Simple stuff like movies, TV shows, and music. With iOS, that's just checking some boxes in iTunes and syncing. Using TuneSync and other apps and having to remember how to do these things that, in my mind, should be mostly automatic....I guess I'm just tired of it and want to move on.

Files on and off? Dropbox is good enough for that. I have a paid file manager, too. It's a fixable problem.

The Nexus 7 (2013) had just gotten slow -- I bought an iPad Air and it's a screamer. Perhaps it's the years of using iPads, perhaps it's the bigger, brighter screen, I don't know.

I'm mostly a web/email guy when it comes to content on tablets and phones. And I've said this before (maybe earlier in this thread, apologies), but I haven't yet found an email client that holds a candle to iOS Mail. I've tried about 6 different Android ones and they're all terrible in some way.

But it's going to be a 5.5" screen, or I'm waiting till that one comes out. I don't hate my Note 3, but it's time for me to move to a new cellular provider, so I'll need a new phone in the next few months when I do that.

What Apple has is the force others to adopt standards it proposes. Even though there may be more Android users, the market is more fragmented. Thinking about how various carriers disabled Google's mobile payment options out of fear that it would compete with their rival option. Apple speaks with one voice and has more ability to impose top down standards. You can debate whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. I'm tilting towards "good."

I am also a die hard android fan boy who will move to iOS as soon as there is a 5.5 inch iPhone 6

People are already standing in line outside the Apple Store in NYC (for publicity purposes - I guess I'm aiding and abetting).

I guess I'm in the minority because I like the size of the current iPhone. It's easy to carry in my shirt pocket or a jeans pocket. Anything bigger wouldn't work for me. Whenever I see someone using one of those huge phones, it reminds me of "Get Smart" and Maxwell's shoe phone. And, no, I'm not interested in carrying around a "murse". :D

I wear khakis (or similar casual trousers) rather than jeans, but I have no trouble keeping an 8" tablet, let alone any phone in my pants pocket.

My Galaxy Note 3 is a little too tall for most of my shirt pockets, but for a short term place to put it fits fine even in dress shirts with narrower pockets. (Could also leave it with the video camera going, if I needed to :D )

But yeah, iPhones... better for guys with skinny jeans. :D