I have been a cheerful iPhone proprietor for the reason that 3GS method again in 2009, and sure, I’ve upgraded since then. Not as soon as in these 16 years have I been genuinely tempted to modify to Android or a Pixel telephone. However watching the Google Pixel 10 launch this week was the primary time shortly that I’ve began to at the very least entertain a non-Apple future.
Google’s new Pixels are removed from excellent, and I am nonetheless a great distance from switching. However it was the general tone of the occasion (from a tech perspective, reasonably than the celeb cringe-fest) that left me sensing a momentum shift in smartphones. Pixels will proceed to be area of interest in comparison with iPhones, however Google is aware of that AI is its period – and the Pixel 10 launch confirmed that its bullishness is well-founded.
The Pixels are probably the most iPhone-like telephones on Android – reasonably than flashy specs and benchmark battles, they’re all about options. And it is these options, plus Google’s shock push into repairability and enjoyable equipment, that caught my eye as a long-time Apple fan.
Listed here are the 5 issues that I believe Apple wants to reply to at its iPhone 17 launch in September.
1. Genuinely helpful AI options
The massive asterisk right here is we do not know precisely how nicely Google’s new AI options, like Magic Cue, are going to work in apply. And I’ve additionally misplaced depend of the variety of instances Google has promised us seamless AI wizardry, just for it to disintegrate on contact with the true world.
However my impression from the Pixel 10 launch is that Google has some nice concepts and, most significantly, is in one of the best place to drag them off. Take Magic Cue, for instance – it is billed because the AI smartphone assistant we have all needed for the previous few years, popping up with related information or calendar entries once we’re messaging or phoning buddies.
Whilst an iPhone consumer, I am nonetheless very a lot in Google’s world as a consumer of Calendar, Maps, and Gmail. I even use the Gmail app as a substitute of Apple Mail on my iPhone. So the concept of an AI assistant that may make connections between all these companies is an interesting one – and I do not actually see Apple Intelligence doing that higher than Gemini anytime quickly.
Clearly, there are privateness considerations, and it will seemingly be a slow-burn function initially, however plenty of Google’s AI options, like voice translation, work nicely on-device. It is lengthy felt like Apple is taking part in catch-up within the AI areas that attraction to me most, which are not Genmojis and Picture Playground. And the Pixel 10 launch actually rammed that dwelling.
2. Foldable first steps
Google is aware of it is not a frontrunner in foldables, however I like the truth that it is prepared to at the very least throw its hat into the ring and iterate. As our hands-on Google Pixel 10 Fold assessment concludes, it is not a reinvention and stays a number of steps behind the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 as a result of its inferior weight, thickness, and cameras.
However the foldable’s existence makes the Pixel 10 lineup really feel extra thrilling. If I have been on Staff Pixel reasonably than Apple, I would be comforted in understanding that whereas Google is not a foldables champion, it is at the very least refining its craft and getting the real-world suggestions it must make an ideal Pixel Fold sooner or later. Perhaps.
After so a few years with Apple, I do know that is not the way it rolls with new expertise. It waits for others to publicly iron out the kinks earlier than leapfrogging everybody with the polished model they have been stumbling in the direction of. In idea, at the very least.
Am I assured it’s going to do that with foldables? Not notably, if the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional and Apple Intelligence are something to go by. The iPhone Fold is rumored to be fixing plenty of foldable points (display screen creases, weak hinges, and extra), however by the point it launches, I could be extra enthusiastic about screen-less AI devices that’ll make foldables seem like a Psion Organizer.
3. AI well being coach
Well being and health is the realm the place I am most enthusiastic about AI’s personalised potential. Whereas I’ve lengthy been a fan of open-water swimming and triathlons, I’ve by no means been a real knowledge nerd with BPM and VO2 max – in order that’s why Google’s new AI well being coach actually appeals.
Sadly, we did not hear a lot in the best way of specifics, however the idea is thrilling – a private AI well being coach, educated in your train, sleep, and diet knowledge, that may make little tweaks to your plans based mostly in your metrics and the way you feel.
I’ve all the time struggled with the stress between coaching plans and actual life, with accidents, poor sleep, and different occasions typically clothes-lining my good intentions, and resulting in extended breaks. In idea, the brand new AI well being coach for the redesigned Fitbit app may clear up this – for instance, letting me conversationally chat with the assistant about workout routines for my stiff again or one of the best different exercise for my sleep-deprived physique.
Is Apple making one thing like this? Nearly actually, with rumors about Mission Mulberry just lately suggesting that an AI well being coach shall be a part of a revamped Apple Well being app. However I am once more not satisfied that Apple is best-placed to win right here – Google’s AI coach is powered by Gemini, and to this point Apple Intelligence options have been underwhelming.
4. Digicam consistency
I’ve lengthy been a purchaser of Professional mannequin iPhones, as a result of cameras are necessary to me – however I do not see why telephoto cameras must be reserved for pricier fashions anymore. The Pixel 10 sequence has executed away with this disparity, with even the bottom mannequin now coming with a 5x telephoto digicam.
This displays nicely on the Pixel sequence as a complete. They are much friendlier to the typical photographer than iPhones, that are rumored to once more be preserving their telephoto cameras restricted to Professional fashions on the iPhone 17 vary. Whilst a Professional proprietor, that feels a bit imply.
This sense of constructing pictures accessible to everybody can be behind Digicam Coach, a brand new AI function that tells you the way greatest to compose and shoot images. It is not a function I would use, however I just like the idea and I am glad that it exists.
That stated, I am not a fan of all of Google’s AI digicam options. Its new 100x Professional Res Zoom function (to not be confused with Tremendous Res Zoom) sounds prefer it’s overstepping the mark in terms of how a lot AI-created element is in our images. It would not but work on individuals, and Professional Res Zoom images are tagged as ‘edited with AI instruments’, however it nonetheless seems like a slippery slope for a default digicam app to me.
5. The Pixel Watch 4’s repairability
I am a longtime Apple Watch proprietor, however the brand new Pixel Watch 4 has crushed it to a really cool function. So long as you will have a Torx screwdriver, you’ll be able to substitute its battery or show at dwelling.
Impressively, this much-needed function would not have an effect on the smartwatch’s waterproofing. The one draw back is that Google has needed to transfer the charging pins to the aspect of the gadget, which implies yet one more new charging dock. Nonetheless, that dock additionally seems fairly cool, and the repairability is general a giant internet win.
Whereas I am anticipating the Apple Watch to match the Pixel Watch 4’s different large improve –phone-free satellite tv for pc connectivity for emergencies – I am much less assured we’ll see any main design modifications to this yr’s Apple Watch 11.
The rumors are pointing to a main redesign for the Apple Watch 12, however there’s nonetheless nothing within the hypothesis about repairability. It is one other space the place it once more seems like Apple is lagging behind and comfortable to relaxation on its ‘Carbon Impartial’ laurels, however I hope I am pleasantly shocked come September.
