7 iPhone jokes at Google's Pixel event that showed it is obsessed with beating Apple

But if Google was trying to avoid comparisons with Apple when it launched the Pixel on Tuesday night, it wasn’t trying very hard. The Android giant made relentless little digs at its arch rival throughout the company’s presentation. 

Here's a selection of the best digs Google from the event: 

The ‘satisfyingly not new’ headphone jack

Apple, as we all know, infamously ditched the headphone jack when it released the iPhone 7. The Pixel, meanwhile, is fully headphone jacked up, which Google took no time to point out.

Storage

The Pixel comes with free online storage in Google Photos for both images and videos, even at 4K resolution, the idea being that you’ll never run out of room again.

When Google was describing the feature, there was a not so subtle dig at the iPhone when the company showed a “Storage full” pop up that was reminiscent of an Apple message.

In a slightly more subtle dig, it said it had offered unlimited online storage “because people want more than 1,000 songs in their pocket”, which was a rather strange nod to the original iPod, 15 years ago.

‘No unsightly camera bump’

Google claims the Pixel’s camera is “the best smartphone camera ever made”, citing an independent review by camera experts DxOMark. It is also flush with the back of the handset, with “no unsightly camera bump”, whatever that refers to.

Colours

The iPhone 7’s two new colours are “jet black” and “black”, while other manufacturers have taken to giving their hues names like “black onyx” and “coral blue”. Google decided to bring this game to its farcical conclusion: the Pixel’s colours are “very silver”, “quite black” and “really blue”.

‘It just works’

“It just works” was one of Steve Jobs’ favourite phrases, summing up Apple’s approach to simplicity and ease of use. The phrase has fallen out of parlance a little, but made a return last night in reference to Google’s new smart speaker, the Google Home.

‘Like new new’

Google is obsessed with the idea that its phone is “new new”. It used the word “new” 13 times during its promotional video, including the sentence: “Like, doesn’t have a version number new”, ie. not another iterative upgrade. Of course, others might call it “late”.

Easy switching

The most obvious indication of the company trying to appeal to iPhone switchers: Google is bundling the Pixel with a cable that allows you to hoover up all the information from your iPhone, including messages, photos and calendar appointments.