14 DAY TRIAL // A Google Pixel launch event is not a true Google Pixel launch event if the search company doesn’t take a jab at Apple, a moment that typically makes everyone in the audience laugh and applaud frenetically.
This is what happened a few hours ago when Google took the wraps off the Pixel 2 lineup, which includes 2 different models, both of them pretty similar to each other. And it’s this similarity in terms of features that made Mario Queiroz, VP and General Manager for Phones at Google, laugh off Apple for making some goodies exclusive to the iPhone Plus.
“Feel free to choose whichever size Pixel you prefer. Because you'll get the same great experience on both. We don't set aside better features for the larger device,” he said during his keynote.
Indeed, Apple does that, but the company uses it with the sole purpose of driving more buyers to the bigger iPhone. Without a doubt, a bigger body allows for a bigger battery and more hardware, so at some level it’s no surprise that Apple is putting more tech inside the Plus. But at the same time, Cupertino is also having a hard time convincing buyers to choose the Plus, mostly because an important share of its userbase is still in love with the standard 4.7-inch iPhone.
The headphone jack saga
So yes, Google does have a point here and Apple indeed offers some exclusive features, like the dual-camera system, on the iPhone 7/8 Plus.
But the last time Google made fun of Apple, it was all aimed at a change that Google itself embraced with this new Pixel generation. Last year when announcing the Pixel smartphone, Google aired a promotional video that poked fun at its Cupertino rival for removing the headphone jack on the iPhone 7.
A video shown during the event and highlighting the features of the original Pixel read “3.5mm headphone jack satisfyingly not new” before a voice coughs as a direct reference to Apple.
Fast forward one year later and here is Google ditching the headphone jack on the Pixel 2, just like its rival, which it actually laughed off for doing it, did 12 months before.
Is making fun of someone for doing an unconventional thing and then do exactly the same thing fair play? You be the judge.
