Apple’s normally more secretive about their upcoming designs. But this year, we knew what the iPhone 11 would likely look like before the iPhone XS was even a few months old. Apple kept designs private before to avoid two problems: copycats and disappointed investors. The first issue is obvious: copycats. They’ll see what Apple’s working on and rush a design through. The second issue comes from consumer excitement. If consumers aren’t surprised and excited by a new device, investors may lose faith.
But copycats? Could that really be a problem?
Well, look no further than Google’s Pixel 4, which the company has confirmed as the appearance for the next device. Despite not needing a large camera bump, as it’ll only have 2 rear cameras, Google has still decided to use the proposed iPhone 11 design, with a square rear camera. Fortunately, Google stopped shy of a notch.
Unfortunately, their solution looks worse.
Two Cameras?
Oh yes, two cameras. Google has finally decided that software alone isn’t enough. They needed another camera to improve their setup. Year over year improvement between the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 wasn’t as good as other brands. In fact, Google’s flagship phone is as good as Apple’s budget iPhone. However, instead of making a small bump or camera area, as other manufacturers have, they went for a large, iPhone 11-like camera bump. It’s as though they wanted to emulate the style of the iPhone simply to piggyback off of its potential for success.
Google’s brand is strong, why would they go with Apple’s camera bump design? Well, unlike the iPhone 11 and many other Android phones, the Google Pixel will only have 2 cameras. Perhaps the bump is to make up for that lack of a third or fourth camera.
Google Pixel 4-Head, Right?
The oval opening of the Pixel 4 Series front panel means that the Google Pixel 4 Series will be groundbreaking and new and worth looking forward to. pic.twitter.com/9Pg9bGcWrs
— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) July 20, 2019
No notch. Instead, the Pixel 4 will have a large “forehead.” It’s not yet known what Google will have up there, but leaked screen protectors show multiple sensors or cameras. Google could have created their own version of Face ID. They’ll also likely have a wide angle selfie camera, for fitting all your friends into the view.
But my, it’s an unsightly forehead. It’s worse than a notch. It had better be useful.
Is Google Lagging Behind?
Is Google late to the party with multiple cameras, facial recognition, and large camera bumps? Sure. They’ve certainly copied the iPhone design. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t surpass other devices. Google did more with one camera than most companies did with multiple cameras. And no manufacturer has gotten facial recognition right yet, with Apple coming the closest. Perhaps Google will be able to top it?
Apple wasn’t the first company to make a multitouch display. They were the first to put it to good use though. Sure, Google’s copying others. But perhaps they’ll still be able to do it better?
The past two versions of the Google Pixel released in October. We’ll see how they’ve done this fall.
Sources:
- Daniel Badger, Android Central
- Lynn La, CNET