> Samsung got rid of all the things that made their devices different (micro sd card, headphone jack, MST, IR blaster, etc) and then changed the design of the phone to look more like an iPhone. Software also has been moving that direction. There's nothing special or unique with main Samsung flagship phones anymore (with exception of s-pen and folding phones).
True - there are tons of options with Android.
> So by jumping to Apple you aren't losing much in terms of hardware if anything.
I think you are net gaining in terms of hardware quality.
> On the other hand iPhone have been adding more customization features things like widgets on the home screen and allowing to change the defaults to make it more like Android.
Not nearly enough; e.g. I use Syncthing to manage/sync data across devices in my home and have customized it exactly how I want it and I don't need to pay iCloud tax every month - no such luck with Apple. But beyond customization, the main issue is lock-in about which they are (understandably) doing nothing. If you use a idevice and have buyer's remorse, tough luck getting stuff out to a non-Apple ecosystem without friction.
What are you doing that requires you use iCloud in lieu of FOSS/self hosted options?
For photos, check out PhotoSync. It supports a one time purchase and is phenomenal for its use case. Fairly powerful; not something to use without reviewing every single setting first.
Probably a bit more than you want to deal with, but I use Samsung phones and my wife likes her iPhone. We have Nextcloud set up, and both phones auto upload all pictures to the cloud (in the basement).
True - there are tons of options with Android.
> So by jumping to Apple you aren't losing much in terms of hardware if anything.
I think you are net gaining in terms of hardware quality.
> On the other hand iPhone have been adding more customization features things like widgets on the home screen and allowing to change the defaults to make it more like Android.
Not nearly enough; e.g. I use Syncthing to manage/sync data across devices in my home and have customized it exactly how I want it and I don't need to pay iCloud tax every month - no such luck with Apple. But beyond customization, the main issue is lock-in about which they are (understandably) doing nothing. If you use a idevice and have buyer's remorse, tough luck getting stuff out to a non-Apple ecosystem without friction.