I think the iPhone by itself in a vacuum is a rather boring, if high quality device that gets out of the way and gets the basics just "right enough" to not be annoying. For me it's probably mostly the ecosystem. I don't think people understand how nice it is until they get to experience it. Being a software engineer myself, I'm often amazed by how well everything integrates and works together.
Being able to take a FaceTime call on the Mac or iPad and just transferring it to the iPhone and taking it with you
being able to take regular phone calls on any device, not just iPhone
using the iPhone as webcam via WiFi
opening a tab in Safari on one device and continue reading on the other one
AirPods seamlessly switching audio sources
AirDrop (and now NameDrop, too)
being able to share audio with other AirPod users
bringing the iPhone close to a HomePod to transfer the currently playing thing, then taking it with you when leaving
being able to search AirTags
AirPlay (screen mirror) to big screen
MagSafe is pretty nice, too, especially with that new Standby feature
I know it's not just iPhone, but Apple has not really been about the iPhone, or Mac or whatever singular device for a long time anyways. I don't think any other company does anything that even remotely compares to Apple's package. Sure, device X from manufacturer Y might take nicer photos when it's raining at night and it's 15°F, and device A from manufacturer B might have a higher res or a higher frame rate display, but iPhone just does all of these basics just right enough plus all the other things I mentioned that it's not even a competition in my mind. Plus, no bloatware (I don't consider Garage Band or Safari bloat, YMMV) or duplicate apps for the same functionality out of the box.
I think the iPhone by itself in a vacuum is a rather boring, if high quality device that gets out of the way and gets the basics just "right enough" to not be annoying. For me it's probably mostly the ecosystem. I don't think people understand how nice it is until they get to experience it. Being a software engineer myself, I'm often amazed by how well everything integrates and works together.
I know it's not just iPhone, but Apple has not really been about the iPhone, or Mac or whatever singular device for a long time anyways. I don't think any other company does anything that even remotely compares to Apple's package. Sure, device X from manufacturer Y might take nicer photos when it's raining at night and it's 15°F, and device A from manufacturer B might have a higher res or a higher frame rate display, but iPhone just does all of these basics just right enough plus all the other things I mentioned that it's not even a competition in my mind. Plus, no bloatware (I don't consider Garage Band or Safari bloat, YMMV) or duplicate apps for the same functionality out of the box.