Earlier this year, when Google first teased the Pixel 9 series, a collective groan could be heard around the world. While the phones look great (at least, in my opinion, they do), it is immediately apparent that the Pixel 9 looks a lot like an iPhone. While the Android vs iPhone rivalry has died down in recent years, Android fans still don’t appreciate seeing their favorite brands copy from Apple. After all, one of the biggest reasons we flock to Android is because we have the choice not to have a phone that looks like everyone else’s. I mean, just look at the image above…it’s an uncanny resemblance!
The easy way to explain Google’s design strategy for the Pixel 9 series is laziness. One could look at the Pixel 9 and say, “Google didn’t want to bother figuring out a unique design for itself, so it just copied the United States’ market leader.” However, I recently talked with Kyle Wiens, the CEO of iFixit, and Shahram Mokhtari, a “Teardown Tech” at iFixit, and we concluded that laziness is probably not why Google leaned on the iPhone for the newest Pixel look. Yes, Google is very likely copying from the iPhone’s design, but “laziness” isn’t the whole story.