No More Dual-iPhone
Moving to my work iPhone as my main phone.
Since I wrote the post on Dumping My Personal Phone back in January, I have been contemplating making the switch. The reason for this is because my Pros and Cons list was changing quite of bit from where it started. Here is my original list from my post early in the year:
And here is what it is today:
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Cons
Before I go over the new Pros in my new list I want to first discuss my changes to the Con list. First off you can see the biggest three original issues with moving to my work phone only is still their; MDM, having an older iPhone, and using a different iCloud account.
These not only still belong on the Cons list, but are a pain in the ass with this new setup. But not enough of a pain to go back, especially since these are the only three things when my Pros list has grown substantially.
A couple things moved over to Pros from the Cons list which includes saving money, having my work calendar and email, plus iOS Betas not being an issue on my work phone. When it comes to saving money, my wife and I made the jump from AT&T to Mint Mobile and since my wife’s phone is paid off, we are saving a substantial amount of money on our bill.
I plan to go into more details in a separate post about using dual-sim and Mint Mobile, but because I am using dual sim, I still have my same personal phone number that I can use on my work phone. The setup has actually been really great and was a very painless move.
Having my work calendar and email on my phone has not been as much of an issue as I thought it would. It is actually nice to be able to look at what I have to do each day at work with also my personal calendar events so I can better deal with conflicts.
The worry of being obsessed with work has not been an issue at all, and was my main concern. The best part is that it has actually added another thing to my Pros list which is using Focus Modes more usefully.
So there are Cons, but not enough for my Pros list to push me over the edge. MDM still has me concerned in terms of my privacy, but so far I have yet to have a reason not to trust my work. Especially since I work in IT, and have learned more on how the MDM is used. The biggest issue so far is having two iCloud accounts that I am actively using now.
Since I am still using my personal iCloud account on my Mac at home, I am no longer able to get iMessages on my Mac, so I have turned it off completely. Also other features like copy and paste from my iPhone to Mac, and being able to unlock my Mac with my Apple Watch.
The biggest let down is not being able to access my old iMessages and losing access to my personal iCloud Drive. It sucks, but it honestly still isn’t enough for me to revert back to two phones. So now that I have given you the bad parts of this transition, lets jump to the now huge Pros list.
Pros
I have already gone over a few, like saving substantially more money, and how having my work calendar and email are great. But the best part is that I feel like my iPhone has become so much more useful for me.
Being able to access my works Wi-Fi has substantially improved my quality of life, not having to worry about slow data as I regularly hit my monthly usage cap with AT&T.
It has also been really cool being able to use Focus Modes more legitimately. Because this is now both my personal and work phone, I have a real use to have Work Focus Mode to configure. When I get close to work now, my iPhone automatically switches to my Work Focus which changes my home screen and Apple Watch.
I have just started using this and have yet to configure it exactly how I want, but once I get it all figured out, I plan to do a separate post explaining how I setup and use focus modes. Right now I am just using a Work Focus, but may also create a Writing Focus, and maybe a Personal Focus too, we will see.
Since I only have one phone now, it has been a great plus for my minimalist side. I like the simplicity of having my work and personal information in one place — besides the whole iCloud Drive issue.
I do plan to start using services outside of Apple to remedy some of my dual-iCloud Account issues. I am actually beginning to embrace Microsoft and OneDrive a lot more — another hinted post coming soon.
Using a Shared Photo Library has been no issue at all, the syncing is seamless and I plan to setup a new Shared Library with my wife since I have been so happy with it. Though my iPhone 14 Pro had 128 GB, which I believe is probably plenty, having the extra with 256 GB has been pretty nice. When I am allowed to upgrade in the next year or two I may ask for more since I am np longer worrying about the extra costs.
Ultimately my Pros list has not changed, and if anything the things on this side have been solidified even more after living with this setup for more than two months. The biggest elephant in the room, that I have not mentioned yet, is how I felt about moving back to an iPhone 13 Pro from the iPhone 14 Pro — first world problems, am I right? — and losing the beloved Dynamic Island.
Some Additional Thoughts
Going from Two Phones to One
Switching to just a single phone was a bigger transition than I expected. I realized that I was using both phones more often than I thought. For example when finishing up this post, I realized I didn’t have my iPhone 14 Pro to take photos of my iPhone 13 Pro. Instead I had to grab my Nikon camera to do it.
This is not exactly a bad thing though. I feel the photos I take with the Nikon, even with the iPhone cameras being fantastic, are a bit more refined and easier to capture what I am looking for. The iPhone photos I find myself editing more, and taking longer to make sure the light and setting is perfect.
Another benefit that I lost is being able to listen to one phone as I use the other phone for something else, or giving my son my work phone to watch YouTube kids while I use my phone for myself and most often in the car connected to bluetooth when driving long distances.
All of these things can be remedied, and for the most part have, but it was interesting how I found myself seeing that the burden of carrying two phones all of the time actually did provide some benefits that I didn’t appreciate as much.
Leaving The iPhone 14 Pro
On the eve of the iPhone 15 Pro announcement, it seems ironic to address how fine I was in moving back to the notch from an island but its true. I did mention how I felt the Dynamic Island was a bit overrated, but this was before my transition, and without it I support that claim even more.
The biggest loss from the 14 Pro for me was the camera and brighter display, but even those two were quickly forgotten about after appreciating the great photos I can capture on the 13 Pro, and not having an 14 Pro to compare the display next too.
When I am able to upgrade through my work, I will get a 15 Pro, or even better so I think part of me feels like the benefit of getting to use a newer phone for free is worth the cost of using an older model for awhile. This is all to say also, that even with the shiny iPhone 15 Pro about to be announced, the iPhone 13 Pro is a fantastic phone, and will be for awhile.
Apple Leather MagSafe Case
Before I conclude I do want to mention the case that I got for the iPhone 13 Pro. Since this is phone is work-issued, I am not taking the risk of dropping it without protection. A screen protector was already installed when they gave it to me, and they also put it in a very thick and ugly Otterbox case.
I initially replaced the Otterbox case with a cheap amazon one that was much thinner, but now that this is my main phone, I wanted to get a case that had MagSafe. And since this is technically an older model I knew I would be able to get a leather case for much cheaper. So I found an Apple Leather MagSafe case on eBay for only $18 and jumped on it quick.
It took a few weeks to be delivered but once it arrived it was well worth the wait. Because these cases are so expensive I never bothered to consider them, and wow am I disappointed I haven’t used them more in the past. The quality of the case is outstanding, and it made my phone feel more important and valuable.
It has been a great addition to all of this transition. The classy case has helped me feel like this single iPhone that I carry now more important and a tool. Since this is now used for both my job and my personal life, I consider it even more vital as I use it each day.
Being Content
The best part of this transition is me being able to embrace and appreciate what I have. Over the past few years I have written extensively on how I have had a bad relationship to tech and upgrading. Especially the iPhone. I will write about how I don’t need the new iPhone right before and after they are announced, to only a few months later upgrading myself.
I am very lucky that my job issued me a iPhone to use for personal use, and because I am not paying for it, I appreciate it more. When they upgrade my phone, it will feel more substantial because I am not only waiting longer so I am getting more of an upgrade, but I also don’t have to fork over a large chunk of cash or new monthly payments.
There are obviously a lot of reasons for me to ditch my personal phone and stick with my work-issued phone as I have went over already. But I think this years journey of separating myself from technology podcasts and other content has really been allowing me to build a more healthy relationship with my tech, and this transition is just another step in that.