I use both the 15 pro and the Galaxy S23U. Prefer samsung as it has more customizable UI and various multitasking features. I can make my phone look and behave the way it’s most comfortable for me to use. It’s basically a computer in my hand.

iPhone is my work phone and would only recommend to someone who wants a basic phone which does all that a generic smartphone should do (and apple is very good at doing these things) and is not too techy. iPhones UI is smooth, has good battery backup, has great camera and everything that an average joe would need. All these are also true with any android nowadays but an average user won’t use all the features anyways and might confuse some non techy people.

Got this Screen Protector from amazon and was a perfect fit. Just installed it yesterday so don’t know how durable it would be but looks fine for now. You would get 4 screen protectors and 4 camera protectors for $15-16.

In my opinion its less related to carriers and more related to hardware and software they have to optimize. In India we don’t have carriers, but still the rollout is delayed and it’s a worldwide thing. Apple has the advantage of

1. In house software and hardware
2. Limited number of devices with little variables.

Androids usually get their processors from third party manufacturers which takes a little extra time to optimize and they have to do it separately for each processor and device model. Plus you have different screen sizes and types for each of your models (S23, 23+ and 23 ultra have different display size plus they have the older models too with different hardware).

Apple only has to deal with 2 or maybe 3 screen sizes if you take models from last 2-3 years coz the display from iphone 14 pros is the same one being used in the 15s and 15 pros coz their phones usually don’t change much in terms of hardware until you see them 3-4 years apart (they used a 12MP camera for the a long time before upgrading to a 48MP recently).

Long story short, I think that samsung or other android manufacturers have way too many variables to optimize their software with which takes time so they prefer to take it slowly

Same for me, I get around 5.5- 6 hrs of screen time for 80-85% battery use but am able to get approx 7.5hrs of screen time on full charge. I also run a lot of routines in the background, keep my Bluetooth and location on 24hrs (for routines) along with highest resolution in settings. I think if I optimize these settings a bit 9-10hrs on a full charge probably seems doable. Check these settings for your phone, might be helpful to increase the battery life before taking the phone to service centre.