Why do iPhones seem to be just as powerful as Android phones, even though their technical specifications don't match up at all?

As they say, it doesn't matter how big the boat is, it's how it sails that matters.  TL;DR: iPhone is a better device, even when it doesn't have all features of a competing Android device because of: better software, better software/hardware integration, curated apps from a single source, and minimal fragmentation. Hardware/Sofftware Optimization Apple has a distinct advantage of making the hardware as well as the software for the iPhone. This allows then to tweak the iOS to perform optimally with the processor, for example.  They've used the same processor in their latest iPhone and iPads, but the clock speeds are different for each device. Also, they are able to control how battery is used with different apps, making it as efficient as possible. This results in longer battery life for given tasks.  Effect of fragmentation In addition, because all iPhones run on the same iOS, the adoption of upgrades is very quick. This is important because each upgrade closes security holes and improves functioning. Also, each upgrade is possible on all phone generations, although the oldest ones may not be able to utilize all functions due to hardware limitations.  Android devices don't enjoy this privilege. The OS is made by Google and the hardware by a number of manufacturers.  In addition, it's possible to fork the OS, so it's different from the stock, although still identified as being Android.  Also, since there are several manufacturers of Android devices, they try to add another layer of their own for differentiation.  Then, no one is forced to use the latest version of Android, it leads to different manufacturers using different versions.  All this leads to a lot of fragmentation, with different versions, forks and additional skins.  One of the biggest drawback of this is that either an app can't work on all Android devices or the developer has to give backwards compatibility so it works on all flavors/versions of Android. This 'dumbing down' o f the app in the latter option renders it less effective than a comparable app for the iOS that has to work on only one version of the OS.  Like Apple, Google also releases upgrades to Android on a regular basis. However, because of this fragmentation, it may not be possible to upgrade your device's OS unless you're running the stock or 'pure' Android.  In addition, since the hardware and software makers are two different entities, they often aren't  willing/able to coordinate upgrades.  This lack of upgrade means that you may have a recently accquired state-of-the-art Android phone, but it ages quickly if you're unable to update to the latest version.  Curation of Apps Further, apps in Android can be side-loaded, meaning you can get an app from sources other than the official App Store for Android, Google Play. This is not possible for an iPhone unless it's jailbroken. This means an Android phone, and a jailbroken iPhone, are more vulnerable.  On top of this, the App Store for iOS is controlled and curated. The testing in Google Play is less rigorous, so apps with malware have more chances to exist. Also, the App Store for iOS is the only place to get iOS apps, unlike for Android which has more than one.  Malware Vulnerability All this fragmentation, use of forks, inability to ensure upgrades, ability to get apps from several sources, makes them more vulnerable. In fact, 99% of all known malware attacks have been reported on Android devices only.  It's all about software The reason I give this exhaustive comparison of software is because without it, any hardware is useless and that the better the hardware/software optimization, the better a device will function.  This is one of the main reasons why an iPhone works better than an Android device, even if the latter may have better specs on paper.  The other reason is that Apple doesn't include additional hardware/functions unless they are well tested. On the other hand, other manufacturers try to slap on extra features just so they're able to claim that their phone is superior to the iPhone, often without adequate testing. This leads to user disappointment if/when these additions don't work or work clumsily. Summary That said, Android has come a long way, and the latest iteration is almost as good as iOS, and even has features not yet present in Apple's OS. However, it boils down to the efficiency and ease of use of a device, where Apple - even with a few specs short, is unrivaled because of reasons I elaborated above: better software, better software/hardware integration, curated apps from a single source, and minimal fragmentation.

They do match up, you just don't know how to read the specs properly. The Apple A7 has just as many transistors if not more, than the latest Snapdragon 801. Except they are packed into two more powerful cores instead of 4 crappy cores so they can write "quad-core" on the box to fool people who don't know better. RAM has nothing to do with execution speed as long as you have enough for the process at hand. high resolution makes your phone slower not faster. Higher megapixels never made images better, even in Android phones and Digital cameras/DSLRs. Battery capacity don't improve performance. In fact they decrease performance in some way. Because having a larger battery means your phone consumes more energy which means more heat, and then the processor has to slow down so it doesn't melt. iPhones always have top tier speakers if not the best, don't know what you're talking about.

Because of iOS. Apple makes the shirt(hardware) and the pants(software) they ensure that the pants is and will always be compatible with the shirt. Because they control both the soft naw hardware side, they are able to achieve maximum efficiency between both layers. This in contrast to Android, which is developed by Google and delivered to hardware manufacturers out there; Samsung, LG. The modification that 3rd party hardware manufacturers can make and optimize to fit their products is severely limited and so the max efficiency is not achieved. To compensate for this lapse, they have no choice but to bump up the processor clock speed, RAM, and many other stuff. Also, this is a marketing strategy, the majority of the population look at mainly specs of the phones, with little knowledge of the huge role that the software plays in the overall ecosystem of the usage of a phone. Coupled with the fact that Android comes in versions of cute and unique names for every version release. Cupcake, doughnut(who doesn't love doughnut?), ice cream sandwich. Hence, bumping up the specs also improves the number of people that buy their phone. Wow, 2Gb RAM, Wow, quad core processor. Now you see how it adds up. :)

One word...SOFTWARE! On the day of iPhone's presentation, Steve said that its software is 5 YEARS ahead of anything out there...well, guess what...it still is way ahead of anything out there!

Iphone and ios, they are made for each other, so they know how much specs should be necessary to run those upcoming apps, but in case of android phones, there are so many companies that are producing Android phones like htc, samsung, sony etc. so this companies has to be ready with as much high specs as possible, so they can run apps that google will develop for android. While in case of ios, developers know that for whom apps is being developed and for which specifications are available in iphone. So they can modify app as they want.

The major difference is in their compilation process. In Android the apps are compiled into bytecode which are again recompiled at runtime by Dalvik VM using JIT compiler. This causes extra processing speed to be used by apps, which reduces the performance. Google came up with ART to solve this. iOS on the other hand doesn't not need a separate VM per device since they make their own hardware and can make iOS compatible to each device without any VM compilation. The apps (ipa) is compiled into native machine code and runs at native speed in the device, thus they're way faster than their Android counterpart. You can read about Dalvik vs ART vs iOS in my other answer (Only if you want more technical answer) -

Samsung only plays on numbers. iPhones utilize what they have very smartly. iOS doesn't have any bloat ware like Android. In addition, Apple makes both the hardware and the software which brilliantly combine with each other. A bigger number isn't always better-how it is used is key here. And Apple is better at doing that.

Apple's iOS and iPhone's manufacturing is in their hands unlike Android phones which are manufactured and modified by all major players adding their own touch-ups but iOS is only for the iPhone , Hence it will be developed for iPhone , think of Google developing it but for whom? Desire? Note? (Note that Nexus 5 features one of the most fluidic experience of Android) so iOS needs less specs to handle its iPhone.

iPhone is built for simplicity not for competition. The specs it gets are sufficient for an iPhone because the apps are first built for iTunes iPhone and they go for android.