Apple aping Pixel's design for the iPhone 17 would be a real low

I performed a classic comical double-take at this week’s leak of the iPhone 17 redesign. “Surely this can’t be real?” I thought. Can Apple really sink so low as to copy Google’s stonkingly good-looking Pixel 9 series?

Fan renders based on the chassis suggest the new look won’t necessarily clone the Pixel 9 entirely; it might still have the distinctive raised lenses we’re familiar with from recent iPhone designs rather than a shaded bar. Still, the horizontal camera setup and stacked flash are undeniably Pixel. Even if Apple isn’t deliberately copying the look (designs are planned years in advance, after all), Google’s aesthetic has been well-established since the Pixel 6, so the accusations will easily stick — at least in tech-savvy circles.

Copycatting is nothing new, of course. How many Android brands rushed to follow Apple with a notch design despite it being hideous and arguably worse than a slim bezel? Not to mention the history of Chinese OEM skins flagrantly pinching from iOS. We’re used to the shoe being on the other foot (at least aesthetically), but even the pretense that the iPhone would copy from an Android brand — still often unfairly considered the budget alternative — would surely shatter any remaining illusion that Apple remains the premium innovator.

From the early iPod to modern-day Macbooks, Apple has staked its reputation on unique industrial design. The fact that you know it’s an Apple product by looks alone is part of its fashionable appeal, allowing the iPhone to command premium-tier pricing despite not necessarily being the most spec-packed or best value-for-money product on the market. We might not like it, but it’s just the other side of the blue vs green bubble coin that prevents some from looking over Apple’s fence.

In this sense, copycatting would be a far bigger faux pas for the iPhone than most other smartphone brands. While Apple will have to revamp its aging design at some point, and there are only so many camera placements to go around, it might have a tougher job convincing customers to pay through the nose for a phone that could too easily be confused for a green-bubble-touting Pixel. Just, eww, right?

Or perhaps not. Apple’s brand power is such that popular culture might even credit the next iPhone with popularizing the camera bar. Despite recent successes, Google’s Pixel is still a reasonably niche product, after all. If anyone can pull off that level of consumer gaslighting, it’s Apple. Remember that notch I talked about? Android did that first, too, technically, but few remember or care.

Still, a potentially controversial redesign couldn’t come at a worse time for Apple, which has surely been losing its luster to those willing to look at the big picture. It certainly doesn’t wear the photography crown anymore, and the slow drip of beta-state Apple Intelligence features only highlights how complacent and behind the curve the brand’s software development has become. iOS 19 isn’t shaping up any better, either. Furthermore, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite has also snagged the performance trophy from its grasp.

In lieu of a swanky design, what recent accolades can the iPhone really hold up to justify its claim to the apex of smartphone technology? Despite familiar seal-clapping for the iPhone 16, the series looks in a slump to me. While that might sound like sour grapes from an Android fan, Apple’s stake in the sought-after Chinese market (which is less loyal than the US) already looks under threat from local manufacturers, such as a resurgent HUAWEI. Even Apple needs to land occasional wins to stand out, and accusations of borrowing its latest design certainly wouldn’t help that cause.

Anyway, I’m not suggesting that Apple’s supposed iPhone 17 redesign will be a disaster of any kind. A change in looks is always controversial, but the titans of tech have weathered previous storms well enough. Not forgetting that Apple seems impervious to criticisms of iPhone aping Android, so a design that’s familiar to the Google faithful is unlikely to damage its mainstream US appeal. Still, for a company seemingly at sea for really innovative ideas, a redesign that looks eerily like your fastest-rising US competitor is bound to raise eyebrows from critics and fans alike. It’s just not a good look.