New Samsung Galaxy Ad Makes Fun of iPhone X's Notch, Lack of Stylus Support, Dongles, and More

Samsung today posted a new video on its YouTube channel called "Samsung Galaxy: Growing Up," which follows the life of a young man as he purchases Apple devices over the course of ten years, and then decides to switch sides to Samsung on the eve of the iPhone X launch. The 1-minute commercial features the song "I'm Moving On" by Chyvonne Scott.

The video begins at the iPhone launch in 2007, and subsequent years show the main character facing storage issues when taking a photo and waiting in long lines under poor weather conditions for the latest iPhone. At one point, he drops his iPhone in water and has to place it in a bowl of rice, while his girlfriend's Samsung device continues to function.


Other points made in the ad center around the iPhone's lack of stylus support, as well as its need for dongles after the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack in the iPhone 7. The ad ends with the character's decision to turn off his iPhone and purchase a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, and he eventually walks past a line of people waiting for the iPhone X -- including a guy with a notch-like haircut -- without joining them.

The latest Samsung smartphone is the Galaxy Note 8, which launched in September with dual rear cameras, a 6.3-inch AMOLED 'Infinity Display', and a new and enhanced S Pen with improved pressure sensitivity. Many publications favorably reviewed the Note 8 prior to its launch, agreeing that the lack of an explosive battery made Samsung's newest device a step up from the Note 7.

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...
iOS 18

Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 18.5 to Developers

Wednesday April 2, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming just two days after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. We don't yet know what Apple is introducing in the iOS 18.5...

Top Rated Comments

farewelwilliams Avatar
97 months ago
can someone explain how writing down a contact is much better than typing it in?

- you need two hands
- you need a stylus
- looks wildly uncomfortable to write without some palm rest
- unless there's some "google magic" going on, you can't search for that contact (EDIT: yes i know OCR exists, but you need to take extra steps to file it as a contact instead of saving as a note)
- looks unorganized
- much slower to write vs typing
Score: 194 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Maclver Avatar
97 months ago
At least I can bring my phone on an airplane :rolleyes:
Score: 191 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gusapple Avatar
97 months ago
Getting excited for Apple to respond with an ad showing a Note 7 exploding...
Score: 181 Votes (Like | Disagree)
otrfan84128 Avatar
97 months ago
You'd think companies would have learned by now that ridiculing the competition is not a winning strategy. As an iPhone user, why would I want to switch to a product from a company that has basically told me I'm an idiot for not buying their product I the first place? Nobody ever wins a debate by insulting a competitor. If anything, ads like this make Samsung look as though they are desperately trying to hang onto their existing base rather than expanding it. If they feel their product is superior, as I would expect them to, they should tout its superior features, not try to make people who didn't buy it feel stupid for not doing so. Apple got away with "I'm a Mac ... I'm a PC" because it was genuinely funny, but I'd bet they found that after a while, even that campaign became counterproductive. To win in the marketplace you need a truly superior product and good marketing that PERSUADES, not ridicules.
Score: 121 Votes (Like | Disagree)
v0lume4 Avatar
97 months ago
Say what you want, but that was an awesome commercial. Tastefully done. I considered buying a Note 8 this year, matter of fact.

The rice thing was so relatable.

edit -- Absolutely no reason to try and defend Apple or Samsung here, fellas. Let's just appreciate tech (and good marketing). :)
Score: 94 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bigjnyc Avatar
97 months ago
This ad showcased the iPhone more than anything, made me feel a little nostalgic about my old iPhones... don’t think that’s what they were going for
Score: 62 Votes (Like | Disagree)