Migrating away from iPhones

I’m in the process of migrating away from my Apple platform and all US cloud providers.

I’m moving all my future cloud activity to a German server outfit subject to European laws, and Apple’s “walled garden” - somehow - makes Chinas “big firewall” look like the pinacle of freedom.

My iPhones will be phased out over the coming months (relegated to spare, emergency use in case a future main phone goes haywire, is lost or stolen etc).

The horrors of iOS 18 (aaaand the Sequoia 15 “features” of ill repute) plus the scary prospects of a totally revamped iOS 19 and possibly a thoroughly botched complete revamp of macOS version 16 later this year makes the decision easy.

Now is the ideal time. For many, very obvious reasons.

Has anyone used the Xiaomi 15 Ultra? It’s my current prime candidate.

How’s the Blackmagic Camera App working with recent Xiaomi smartphones?
Any fact based takes, comments, warnings etc.?
Other recommended non-US based manufacturers?

Regards

P.S. Thanks in advance for any practical advice based on first hand experience.
P.P.S. If you prefer, feel free to send me a private message via the BlackMagic system.

Has the Blackmagic app be released for Xiaomi? In the past it was only Pixel and some Samsung models.

Has the Blackmagic app be released for Xiaomi? In the past it was only Pixel and some Samsung models.

I’m not sure, but where better to ask, than the place most actual and real Blackmagic Camera App users frequent?

There are lot’s of “views” out there in cyberspace, but the frequency of real facts seem a bit strained

Regards

A lot of people may agree with you that Apple’s day in the sun may find the sun is setting today. Their reliance on manufacturing in China and India has been shaken. The day isn’t over but Apple stock is down almost 9% in one day after the second round of tariffs. Another cheaper labour alternative could have been Vietnam but it is also hammered with high tariffs. It’s not impossible to see that Apple may fall 10% today and 20% this month as the new reality settles.

Compare Apple’s ‘untouchable too big to fail’ attitude with Hyundai who read the tea leaves and prior to this week announced a $65B USD investment in manufacturing in the US. Why $65B? That number is equal to the trade imbalance with Korea in 2024 as I recall.

A lot of people may agree with you that Apple’s day in the sun may find the sun is setting today. Their reliance on manufacturing in China and India has been shaken. The day isn’t over but Apple stock is down almost 9% in one day after the second round of tariffs. Another cheaper labour alternative could have been Vietnam but it is also hammered with high tariffs. It’s not impossible to see that Apple may fall 10% today and 20% this month as the new reality settles.

Compare Apple’s ‘untouchable too big to fail’ attitude with Hyundai who read the tea leaves and prior to this week announced a $65B USD investment in manufacturing in the US. Why $65B? That number is equal to the trade imbalance with Korea in 2024 as I recall.

I'll not venture into politics, and my "migration" is based solely on practicality and future prospects for rule of law, where I live. And Apples receding product qualities.

US tarifs have absolutely NO direct influence on purchasing prices for Apple products in Europe for the near future.

When I bought my Apple products the last 10-15 years, they were all shipped directly from Shenzhen in China, and arrived (free of charge) at my doorstep a day to a few days later. As long as Apple hardware does not take a completely unnecessary detour around the US shores, prices are not affected anywhere else.

Just to mention an example, that's valid with todays knowledge.

What Europe, India, China and a lot of the world with more than 95% of the worlds inhabitants and more than 75% of the worlds total economy outside the US feel "inspired" to do the coming days or weeks, is a huge unknown. We'll see...

US citizens voted, and they really got, what they voted for - maybe a lot more, than they bargained for.

As the rest of the world usually drily accept immediately after honest or rigged elections: Enjoy while it lasts, and you still believe in the tooth fairy and father christmas

Regards and a big smile

The main advantage of Apple's so-called "walled garden" is that everything works together (as long as there are no bugs, of course).

I used Android for years and it was like the Wild West with all those different manufacturers, where some apps would only work on certain brands of phones and not others. I've had similar issues with Windows, which I've used since the 1990s; my worst experience was with Microsoft hardware that wouldn't operate on the Microsoft computer (a Surface tablet) that it was designed for. And for the past six months I have been unable to update Teams on my Windows laptop. I like Windows and Mac and use both every day, but I spend a lot more time troubleshooting my Windows machine and more time just getting stuff done on my Mac (and my iPhone).

Plus when I was using Android most Android phones had at most 3 years of support with security updates, whereas Apple provided at least 5. I'm still using an iPhone SE that I bought in April 2020, battery life is still good as new, and it is expected to be supported by Apple with software and security updates until 2027 or 2028. With Android you can extend the working lifetime of a phone by converting it to Lineage or another ROM but then you're at the mercy of volunteer tenders; my last Android phone (which I converted to Lineage) stopped receiving updates years ago.

Anyway, my experience with Apple's "walled garden" has been entirely positive. There are other reasons why I'd be happy to move away from Apple if better choices were available, but this is not one of them.

From my perspective it’s not that I’m likely to go to Android, but I’m lengthening the time between upgrades. In the beginning i updated every three years as that was the length of contract time with Canadian carriers. Now that’s no longer true as they’ve switched to two year plans. But my response has been to go to a four or five year cycle for the iPhone Pro model so I don’t expect to upgrade until iPhone 18 in 2026.

The feature that makes we want to upgrade has often been the screen and the camera. For the last couple of years the WWDC in June has been a letdown, but my P3 screen is pretty good and the cameras are okay. I expect by iPhone 18, they will have improved significantly.

The iPad Pro actually is far more compelling to me than the camera (except one always has the camera close by). I may just get a high quality screen on a future iPad Pro and forego the phone upgrade as long as my iPhone 14 Pro is supported.

The main advantage of Apple's so-called "walled garden" is that everything works together (as long as there are no bugs, of course).

I used Android for years and it was like the Wild West with all those different manufacturers, where some apps would only work on certain brands of phones and not others. I've had similar issues with Windows, which I've used since the 1990s; my worst experience was with Microsoft hardware that wouldn't operate on the Microsoft computer (a Surface tablet) that it was designed for. And for the past six months I have been unable to update Teams on my Windows laptop. I like Windows and Mac and use both every day, but I spend a lot more time troubleshooting my Windows machine and more time just getting stuff done on my Mac (and my iPhone).

Plus when I was using Android most Android phones had at most 3 years of support with security updates, whereas Apple provided at least 5. I'm still using an iPhone SE that I bought in April 2020, battery life is still good as new, and it is expected to be supported by Apple with software and security updates until 2027 or 2028. With Android you can extend the working lifetime of a phone by converting it to Lineage or another ROM but then you're at the mercy of volunteer tenders; my last Android phone (which I converted to Lineage) stopped receiving updates years ago.

Anyway, my experience with Apple's "walled garden" has been entirely positive. There are other reasons why I'd be happy to move away from Apple if better choices were available, but this is not one of them.

Good for you. But....

It's I, who decides on the products, I use. NOT you. Based on my prior experiences and future needs. NOT yours.

My current iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro (as previous models) - both in daily use - have had uncannily many repeatedly non-fixed bugs, as each major iOS version has had until a new, often worse, major version yearly update was introduced during the last around four to five years.

The freedom outside the walled garden is not to be ignored either. Especially when traveling all over the world on all continents (except Antarctica). The world being, what it has recently become, I also need a safe cloud storage location, where rule of law has a prevalent position.

Whatever Android phones historically had or did not have as support many years ago, has little to no bearing on today's conditions.

Not to mention Apples lack of real progress - even failing to deliver long and prominently advertised features. Can I be sure, that promised iPhone 17 Pro features - postponed from iPhone 16 Pro - will even be available before iPhone 18 Pro is generally available in shops all over the world?

I have never ever relied on "phone plans". I can choose freely in a free market.

I've always bought smartphones paid up front in full with freedom to switch carrier to any available at any given moment anywhere in the world, when required, with generally full and unrestricted access to - now - 5G speeds.

As always: YMMV.

Current EU law requires smartphones to receive updates for at least five years after the company stops selling the model.

Google is still selling last years Pixel 8. That means it should get at least five more years of updates.

Complaining that you have too much choice seems strange. I'd rather the choice

… Not to mention Apples lack of real progress - even failing to deliver long and prominently advertised features. Can I be sure, that promised iPhone 17 Pro features - postponed from iPhone 16 Pro - will even be available before iPhone 18 Pro is generally available in shops all over the world?
...

My background in IT are mainframes and Big Iron from IBM. At one time they were publishing detailed technology roadmaps looking several years ahead and they did follow those plans—until they didn’t or couldn’t follow the plans for several years and the whole concept fell apart. That was sure an early sign they were losing their grip on their manufactured reality. In terms of mainframes, IBM pursued ever increasing computational power regardless of the electrical power required to deliver that capability. Arm and Apple pursued greater efficiency, greater power and less wattage to achieve it. A consequence of circuit design and the ever shrinking size of the circuits and shorter lengths and widths of the pathways. Years ago everyone assumed the lithography methods of laying down these circuits would hit a wall, years later circuits are still shrinking with greater power and lower wattage. And now we are entering the dawn of quantum computing and possibly photons replacing electrons.

All this is to say I believe just like IBM faltered in the horse race due to the blinders they wore, so too are Apple floundering after enormous success for say 20 years. Because they are playing with blinders on. They can’t seem to see how silly their WWDC and special event shows are becoming. How their excitement over a few emojis is worth mentioning to anyone as if that’s a sign of progress. How horrible Siri has been from the very beginning and getting worse rather than better. And the constant merry-go-round presentation format that introduces a dozen new managers or executive while we wonder what happened to the team that presented the previous year and the years before.

Honestly I knew they were in trouble making a successful COO a CEO. The skills of those jobs don’t overlap. The current CEO isn’t a technology leader, he merely helps streamline a flow of activity like bringing together all the pieces of a product and its marketing. But I don’t believe he is the inventor (or contributes and guides the inventions) in the way Steve Jobs could. They seem lost with so many billions to invest in R&D and to what end? A Vision Pro that surely is a headache to wear and anti-social in the extreme. Remember the Wii that was fun? And social. Vision Pro doesn’t seem to be fun but in some other form may find a niche.

The iPhone has transformed the world. I wonder if it’s an evil blessing though. Great for many purposes truly, but it’s solitary fun. It’s anti-social because your constructed world is not real. Your friends aren’t real. Your followers cannot be counted on which you discover the moment you decide to take a vacation from your daily grind of producing content and drawing clicks and the followers demand their fix.

We are in a new world beginning this week and it’s scary because it is no longer rational. Laws are optional or meaningless. Respect only means blind fealty.

Let’s cherish the leader of BMD who is one of those unique leaders that wants to do the right thing. Increasingly rare. There are many people with integrity and vision and dedication and devotion. But sometimes you wonder if they’ll survive or will they be lined up against a wall (metaphorically or literally) and destroyed because they are unique. And will never bend the knee.

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is no longer a contender for iPhone replacement due to lack of 25 and 50 fps support and extremely low HEVC bitrates. Looking elsewhere.

If anyone has first hand experience using own hardware with 25 and 50 fps support, and high bitrate support for h265 10-bit 4:2:2 4k or higher HDR HLG (Log not required) recording - ideally up to 200 megabit/sec in 4k 25fps - I'm all ears.

Regards

Bonjour,
Je possède le XIAOMI 15 Ultra et j'ai installé le logiciel Blackmagic.
Il fonctionne très bien a 25i/s, mais je suis limité au 4K 60i/s alors que l'appareil peut fonctionner en 4k 120i/s et aussi en 8K.
J'espère qu'un mise à jour prochaine résoudra le problème. l'appareil étant très récent.

Bonjour,
Je possède le XIAOMI 15 Ultra et j'ai installé le logiciel Blackmagic.
Il fonctionne très bien a 25i/s, mais je suis limité au 4K 60i/s alors que l'appareil peut fonctionner en 4k 120i/s et aussi en 8K.
J'espère qu'un mise à jour prochaine résoudra le problème. l'appareil étant très récent.

Thank you for the post.

Do you have any examples (10 or more seconds) of 4k/25fps and 8k/25fps h265 Rec 2020 (HLG or PQ, Log not needed) maximum bitrate (whatever it is)?

A link to a short example or two to Google drive would be perfect.

Regards

L'enregistrement n'est quant 8 bit 4.2.0

Voilà les informations donné avec MediaInfo d'une petite vidéo

Général
Nom complet : C:\Users\jcbmc\Desktop\A001_04271423_C004.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format, Profil : Base Media / Version 2
Identifiant du codec : mp42 (isom/mp42)
Taille du fichier : 62,0 Mio
Durée : 14 s 145 ms
Débit global : 36,8 Mb/s
Débit im/s : 25,048 im/s
Date d'enregistrement : 2025-04-27T14:23:35+0200
Date d'encodage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
Date de marquage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
Lieu d'enregistrement : +44.1990 +005.9473
Application utilisée : Blackmagic Cam 2.1.0088
Bibliothèque utilisée : Apple QuickTime
Writing operating system : Google Android 15
Writing hardware : Xiaomi 25010PN30G 23mm
com.video.file.type : Unknown kind of value!
com.blackmagic-design.camera.reelNumber : 1
com.blackmagic-design.camera.scene : 1
com.blackmagic-design.camera.take : 1
com.blackmagic-design.camera.dayNight : Day
com.blackmagic-design.camera.environment : Interior
com.blackmagic-design.camera.goodTake : 0
com.blackmagic-design.camera.dateRecorded : 2025-04-27T14:23:35+0200
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com.blackmagic-design.camera.resolution : 3840.000,2160.000
com.blackmagic-design.camera.guides.aspectRatio : 0.56
com.blackmagic-design.camera.guides.safeArea : 85.0
com.blackmagic-design.camera.iso : 50
com.blackmagic-design.camera.shutterAngle : 3,5°
com.blackmagic-design.shutterSpeed : 1 / 2557.0
com.blackmagic-design.shutterMode : speed
com.blackmagic-design.camera.whiteBalanceKelvin : 8018
com.blackmagic-design.camera.whiteBalanceTint : 50
com.blackmagic-design.camera.aperture : f1.63
com.blackmagic-design.camera.lensType : Xiaomi 25010PN30G 23mm
com.blackmagic-design.sensorFPS : 25.0
com.blackmagic-design.camera.cameraNumber : A
com.apple.proapps.manufacturer : Xiaomi
com.apple.proapps.cameraName : A
com.apple.proapps.clipID : A001_04271423_C004.mp4
com.apple.proapps.isGood : Unknown kind of value!
com.apple.proapps.reel : 1
com.apple.proapps.scene : 1
com.apple.proapps.shot : 1
com.blackmagic-design.camera.gamma : Rec.709
com.apple.quicktime.location.ISO6709 : +44.1989893+5.9473153/
com.blackmagic-design.camera.audio.bitDepth : 16
com.blackmagic-design.camera.audio.channels : 2
com.blackmagic-design.camera.audio.tracks : 1
com.blackmagic-design.camera.audio.sampleRate : 0
com.blackmagic-design.camera.audio.codecFormat : AAC
com.blackmagic-design.camera.audio.codecName : c2.android.aac.encoder
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.codecName : c2.qti.hevc.encoder
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.colorStandard : BT709
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.colorTransfer : SDR_VIDEO
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.codecFormat : HEVC
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.codecProfile : Main
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.codecLevel : 6.2
com.blackmagic-design.camera.cameraId : 2
com.blackmagic-design.camera.pixelAspectRatio : 1.0
com.blackmagic-design.camera.guidesAspectRatio : R_2x1
com.blackmagic-design.camera.exposure : 0.0

Vidéo
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Infos : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format, Profil : Main@L5.1@High
Identifiant du codec : hvc1
Identifiant du codec/Infos : High Efficiency Video Coding
Durée : 14 s 93 ms
Durée de la source : 14 s 93 ms
Débit : 36,6 Mb/s
Largeur : 3 840 pixels
Hauteur : 2 160 pixels
Facteur de forme l/h : 16/9
Type de débit im/s : Débit im/s variable
Débit im/s : 25,048 im/s
Débit mini im/s : 24,979 im/s
Débit maxi im/s : 25,049 im/s
Espace de couleurs : YUV
Sous-échantillonnage de la chrominance : 4:2:0
Profondeur binaire : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Image) : 0.176
Taille du flux : 61,6 Mio (99%)
Taille du flux source : 61,6 Mio (99%)
Titre : Vide
Langue : English
Date d'encodage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
Date de marquage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
Gamme de couleurs : Limited
Coordonnées de chromaticité : BT.709
Caractéristiques du transfert : BT.709
Coefficients de la matrice : BT.709
mdhd_Duration : 14093
Configuration des codecs : hvcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Infos : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Identifiant du codec : mp4a-40-2
Durée : 14 s 145 ms
Durée de la source : 14 s 126 ms
Type de débit : Constant
Débit : 256 kb/s
Canal(aux) : 2 canaux
Agencement des canaux : L R
Échantillonnage : 48,0 kHz
Débit im/s : 46,875 im/s (1024 SPF)
Mode de compression : Avec perte
Taille du flux : 441 Kio (1%)
Taille du flux source : 441 Kio (1%)
Titre : Soun
Langue : English
Date d'encodage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
Date de marquage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
mdhd_Duration : 14145
Errors : Missing ID_END
Erreurs de conformité : 1
AAC : Yes
Conformité générale : Bitstream parsing ran out of data to read before the end of the syntax was reached, most probably the bitstream is malformed (conf, offset 0x286C)
Autre
ID : 3
Type : Time code
Format : QuickTime TC
Durée : 40 ms
Débit im/s : 25,000 im/s
Code temporel de la première image : 14:23:35:00
Code temporel de la dernière image : 14:23:35:00
time code, calculé : Oui
Titre : Time
Langue : English
Date d'encodage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
Date de marquage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC

[quote="Michel-04"]L'enregistrement n'est quant 8 bit 4.2.0

Voilà les informations donné avec MediaInfo d'une petite vidéo

…cut

com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.colorStandard : BT709
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.colorTransfer : SDR_VIDEO
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.codecFormat : HEVC
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.codecProfile : Main
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.codecLevel : 6.2
com.blackmagic-design.camera.cameraId : 2
com.blackmagic-design.camera.pixelAspectRatio : 1.0
com.blackmagic-design.camera.guidesAspectRatio : R_2x1
com.blackmagic-design.camera.exposure : 0.0

Vidéo
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Infos : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format, Profil : Main@L5.1@High
Identifiant du codec : hvc1
Identifiant du codec/Infos : High Efficiency Video Coding
Durée : 14 s 93 ms
Durée de la source : 14 s 93 ms
Débit : 36,6 Mb/s
Largeur : 3 840 pixels
Hauteur : 2 160 pixels
Facteur de forme l/h : 16/9
Type de débit im/s : Débit im/s variable
Débit im/s : 25,048 im/s
Débit mini im/s : 24,979 im/s
Débit maxi im/s : 25,049 im/s
Espace de couleurs : YUV
Sous-échantillonnage de la chrominance : 4:2:0
Profondeur binaire : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Image) : 0.176
Taille du flux : 61,6 Mio (99%)
Taille du flux source : 61,6 Mio (99%)
Titre : Vide
Langue : English
Date d'encodage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
Date de marquage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
Gamme de couleurs : Limited
Coordonnées de chromaticité : BT.709
Caractéristiques du transfert : BT.709
Coefficients de la matrice : BT.709
mdhd_Duration : 14093
Configuration des codecs : hvcC
/quote]

Thank you for the quick response.

Alas, I’m not into 2160p 8-bit BT.709 format (here nominally 25fps).

I’m only interested in 2160p or 4320p 10-bit BT.2020 (HLG orPQ) at far higher bitrates, than 36.6 Megabit/sec.

Currently I get 2160p 10-bit BT.2020 HLG at around 200 megabit/sec (25fps nominally). I can live with a bit less, but 10-bit material is required.

Thank you for your effort. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra does not look ideal for my purpose.

Regards

L'enregistrement n'est quant 8 bit 4.2.0

Voilà les informations donné avec MediaInfo d'une petite vidéo

…cut

com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.colorStandard : BT709
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.colorTransfer : SDR_VIDEO
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.codecFormat : HEVC
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.codecProfile : Main
com.blackmagic-design.camera.video.codecLevel : 6.2
com.blackmagic-design.camera.cameraId : 2
com.blackmagic-design.camera.pixelAspectRatio : 1.0
com.blackmagic-design.camera.guidesAspectRatio : R_2x1
com.blackmagic-design.camera.exposure : 0.0

Vidéo
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Infos : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format, Profil : Main@L5.1@High
Identifiant du codec : hvc1
Identifiant du codec/Infos : High Efficiency Video Coding
Durée : 14 s 93 ms
Durée de la source : 14 s 93 ms
Débit : 36,6 Mb/s
Largeur : 3 840 pixels
Hauteur : 2 160 pixels
Facteur de forme l/h : 16/9
Type de débit im/s : Débit im/s variable
Débit im/s : 25,048 im/s
Débit mini im/s : 24,979 im/s
Débit maxi im/s : 25,049 im/s
Espace de couleurs : YUV
Sous-échantillonnage de la chrominance : 4:2:0
Profondeur binaire : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Image) : 0.176
Taille du flux : 61,6 Mio (99%)
Taille du flux source : 61,6 Mio (99%)
Titre : Vide
Langue : English
Date d'encodage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
Date de marquage : 2025-04-27 12:23:49 UTC
Gamme de couleurs : Limited
Coordonnées de chromaticité : BT.709
Caractéristiques du transfert : BT.709
Coefficients de la matrice : BT.709
mdhd_Duration : 14093
Configuration des codecs : hvcC

Thank you for the quick response.

Alas, I’m not into 2160p 8-bit BT.709 format (here nominally 25fps).

I’m only interested in 2160p or 4320p 10-bit BT.2020 (HLG orPQ) at far higher bitrates, than 36.6 Megabit/sec.

Currently I get 2160p 10-bit BT.2020 HLG at around 200 megabit/sec (25fps nominally). I can live with a bit less, but 10-bit material is required.

Thank you for your effort. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra does not look ideal for my purpose.

Regards