What you need to know
- Apple’s latest privacy announcement shows Android phones with thick bezels and dated designs that don’t reflect reality.
- The ad focuses on Safari’s privacy, but shows Android hardware as much more outdated than it really is.
- Modern Android flagships like the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Find X9 Ultra look nothing like Apple’s examples.
- The announcement seems like another unnecessary jab at Android rather than a showcase of the iPhone’s privacy features.
Apple has released a new “Privacy on iPhone” ad, but it’s taking pains to present Android phones as chunky, outdated-looking boxes once again.
It’s nothing new for Apple and Google to take shots at each other. Tech companies have been doing this for years. The irony, however, is that Google often seems more willing to embrace Apple products than Apple is to acknowledge modern Android phones. We’ve seen Google launch apps on iPhone first and even use MacBooks on stage during Google I/O.
Meanwhile, Apple still seems to have a very outdated idea of what Android phones are really like.
Its latest Privacy on iPhone announcement focuses heavily on Safari and privacy, showing that Android users are tracked wherever they go while browsing. Then, as soon as an iPhone user opens Safari, all those trackers disappear into thin air.
The funny thing is not the privacy message itself. is he android phones Apple chose to represent Android.
The devices shown in the ad have huge bezels around the display and a notched front camera design. Ironically, in 2026, it is Apple that is still selling devices with a notch (the iPhone 16e), while most Android phones have moved to punch-hole cameras and much slimmer designs.
The phones in the ad also have a single rear camera, which seems even more disconnected from reality. Modern Android flagships like the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and even the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra They’re packed with camera hardware that goes far beyond what Apple describes here.
Personally, ads like this don’t reach me anymore. They feel disconnected from what the smartphone market is really like today. Maybe they work for Apple’s audience, but when the devices they’re mocking look nothing like modern Android phones, it all starts to look a little silly.
It’s not the first time Apple has released an announcement like this, but we’re halfway through 2026 and I feel like Cupertino can do better than take these kinds of cheap shots. If anything, the ad says more about how Apple views Android than it does about how Android currently looks. Honestly, what Apple gets out of these ads right now is beyond me.
