I switched to an iPhone

This Blog Post was originally published on adagia.org.

Last year, sometime around summer, I managed to break my Samsung Galaxy S10+ while on paramedic duty. I bent down on the driver's seat because I'd dropped something, forgetting that I had my phone in my chest pocket. Well, besides my phone, I've also kept a pair of scissors inside that pocket, and since it is a special pair of scissors made to cut almost every fabric, it has a small nubble on one of its legs. Well, that nubble pushed into the back of my phone, and after hearing a strange noise, I realized it pushed into the battery. Not far after, the battery decided to be a spicy pillow (https://www.reddit.com/r/spicypillows/).

So there I was, in the middle of my shift, with a phone that could break every minute (well, to be honest, it's still spicy, but also still lying on one of my tables). Luckily, my brother still had his old S10 at home and brought it to me through the rest of the shift. By the end of the shift, I managed to get that up and running.

But I was angry because of that stupid mistake. Also, it wasn't the first phone I broke on a paramedic duty. A few years back, my S7 dropped out of the Volkswagen T5 onto the hard asphalt road. Obviously, screen down.

Since I've been working at my new employer with a Macbook Pro and using an iPad since generation 2, I thought it might finally be time to switch to the iPhone and Apple Watch combination. So, at the end of November, I ordered a brand new iPhone 15 Pro with 128GB and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Because if you're already spending the big money, spend all of it (I also ordered a pair of Air Pods).

I received it shortly after, and now I'm wondering why I didn't switch over earlier. The whole ecosystem integration just works. If somebody calls, I can take the call on my iPhone, the watch, my iPad or the MacBook, depending on which is the most convenient and nearest.

But there is still one caveat: What if I break the phone while on paramedic duty again? Well, I prepared some counter measurements. First, the Watch has its own SIM card paired with the one inside the phone. That means I can take calls on the Watch without having the phone nearby. Second, I'm leaving the phone inside the ambulance car as soon as I'm entering it. There are some dedicated places I can put it and forget about it. If somebody calls (which already rarely happens) and I don't have a patient with me, I can take the call on the watch. So, there's no risk of squishing it in my chest pocket again. Well, at least until I find a new way to break it 🙈