Google this week targeted the upcoming iPhone 17 in an ad for the Pixel 9 Pro, mocking Apple’s design plans and suggesting that Apple often copies Android features.
The iPhone 17 isn’t released, of course, so Google’s ad is based on rumors that the iPhone is going to get a horizontal camera bar at the back, which is a Pixel-esque design. Dummy models and mockups of the iPhone 17 depict a thick horizontal camera bar for the iPhone 17 Pro models, and a slimmer, more Pixel-style camera bar for the iPhone 17 Air.
Google’s Pixel lineup has long used a horizontal camera bar, but it has lenses arranged in a horizontal line. Apple plans to continue to use a triangular arrangement for the iPhone 17 Pro models, and will simply expand the camera bump.
In the ad, Google points out that the Pixel had a horizontal camera bar first, before delving into other features that Apple has allegedly copied. The video is positioned as a “podcast” featuring a Pixel phone and an iPhone.
Pixel: Hi, I’m Pixel, and this is my friend, iPhone.
iPhone: Good day.
Pixel: There are a lot of rumors circulating about iPhone’s upcoming redesign.
iPhone: It’s crazy. Can you imagine me doing the same thing you did first years later?
Google highlights Night Mode, Clean Up, and widgets as examples of features that were available on Android first. The video wraps up with the iPhone copying a line that the Pixel says first: “We want to remind everyone that these rumors are just rumors.”
“Please don’t go repeating everything you see,” reads the video description. Google has used the iPhone and Android ad format in the past to mock Apple’s iPhone design decisions, most recently targeting Apple’s switch to USB-C.
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