The iPhone 17 series is making waves among Android enthusiasts, and for good reason. After years of watching Android phones pioneer features that Apple later adopted, the pattern is still alive with the upcoming iPhone 17 lineup. The twist, Apple’s silicon advantage still matters, with chips topping efficiency tests year after year according to AnandTech and Geekbench. The platforms are also loosening frictions between themselves, with USB-C finally arriving and Apple embracing the GSMA's RCS standard. With that convergence, Apple looks more willing to adopt proven Android ideas while keeping its ecosystem strengths. Here are five Android moves showing up in iPhone 17.
The camera revolution: finally catching up to Android's multi-lens mastery
The iPhone 17 Pro brings Apple’s most significant camera jump in years, closing gaps Android manufacturers started addressing nearly a decade ago. The iPhone 17 Pro is the first where all three rear cameras, main, ultra wide, and telephoto, get the 48MP upgrade. That puts Apple alongside Android flagships that have been running multi high resolution sensors since around 2016, when phones like the LG G5 and Huawei P9 began experimenting with dual high res setups.
The telephoto story shows the catch up most clearly. The new telephoto sensor hits up to 8x optical zoom, with digital zoom up to 40x. Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra supports up to 100x Space Zoom, a path Samsung has been on since the Galaxy S20 Ultra in 2020. Samsung did not just bolt on hardware, they spent years tuning the computational photography that makes extreme zoom usable.
Apple’s counter is classic Apple. The iPhone 17 Pro sports a total of 8 "real" camera lenses, which gives you more framing choices in one pocketable slab. Instead of chasing only megapixels, Apple is leaning on lens variety and its computational pipeline to keep quality consistent across focal lengths, the weak spot in early Android multi camera systems.
Display technology: finally embracing what Android democratized
The iPhone 17 series finally nods to what Android proved years ago, top tier display tech should not live only in the priciest models. A new 120Hz panel for the iPhone 17 would be the first time the feature escapes the Pro line, where it has been parked since the iPhone 13 Pro in 2021.
Android blazed that trail beginning in 2019. OnePlus pushed 90Hz into the mid range, Samsung brought 120Hz to the Galaxy S20 series, and by 2021 even budget models offered high refresh rates. ProMotion support, allowing all iPhone 17 models to ramp up to a 120Hz refresh rate, confirms the obvious, smooth scrolling is not a luxury, it is something you feel every time you flick the screen.
The upgrades keep going. All iPhone 17 models are rumored to feature an anti-reflective display that resists scratches better than the Ceramic Shield on iPhone 15 models. And Apple could buy OLED panels from Samsung for the entire lineup, using M14 series panels known for rich color. In short, iPhone users get the display tech Android normalized at lower prices, paired with Apple’s color tuning and brightness chops.
Design philosophy: the ultra-thin trend Android explored and abandoned
Apple’s iPhone 17 Air is a case study in learning from Android’s wins and missteps. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to have an ultra-thin design that tapers to 5.5mm at its thinnest point, thinner than the 6.9mm iPhone 6 from 2014.
Android tried this diet in 2014 and 2015. Oppo’s R5 hit 4.85mm, Vivo’s X5 Max slid to 4.75mm, and the compromises were quick to show up. Battery life cratered, thermals spiked, stiffness suffered. The market settled around 7 to 9mm for a reason.
There is another cue. The iPhone 17 Air's design recalls a Google Pixel phone, thanks to a camera bar that spans the back. Google treated the bump as a design element, not a wart, and Apple is picking up that thread. The iPhone 17 Pro will feature a new unibody aluminum chassis, carved from a single block that blends into the camera housing, a premium manufacturing vibe Android fans will remember from the HTC One era.
Ultra thin still means tradeoffs. Apple’s execution will show whether those old lessons stick or if the company tries to bend physics with polish and thermal paste.
AI capabilities: playing catch-up to Google's multi-year head start
Apple’s most urgent catch up is AI. The release of the Google Pixel 10 phones with deeply integrated AI features made the gap plain. Apple's first public move into modern mobile AI reached consumers nearly eleven months after Android's AI suite, a delay that compounds as Android iterates.
Google’s advantage comes from shipping early and often. With its new Super Res Zoom feature, the Pixel 10 Pro will fill in missing data and clean up a digital zoom image up to 100x. That is not just computational photography, it is AI reconstruction tuned by years of real world feedback. Google launched Magic Cue in the Pixel 10, so the phone can hint at the info you need without hopping between apps.
The timeline is even clearer in photos. Google first launched its Best Take feature on the Pixel 8 in 2023 and pushed a bigger upgrade on the Pixel 10. Night Sight set the low light bar while others struggled, Magic Eraser arrived long before Apple’s similar Clean Up tool, and Google now leads the AI edit toolkit.
Apple’s response is to keep as much as possible on device for privacy. It is a principled choice, and it limits raw horsepower compared to cloud heavy features. The iPhone 17’s AI will test whether Apple’s silicon edge can offset that, or if the privacy stance keeps the company a step behind Google’s cloud first playbook.
Video recording innovations: Samsung's decade-old feature finally comes to iPhone
The clearest example of Apple’s timing might be video. According to popular leaker Jon Prosser, the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max could come with the ability to record using both the front and rear cameras simultaneously. The kicker, Samsung has been doing this since the Galaxy S4, launched back in 2013.
That is an 11 year gap between Android innovation and Apple adoption. Samsung launched Dual Shot with the Galaxy S4 launch in 2013, and more recent Samsung phones have Directors View Dual Recording, so creators can capture front and rear streams, switch views while recording, and pull off picture in picture tricks.
iOS 19 is expected to introduce a new camera feature exclusive to the iPhone 17 Pro models, recording from the front and rear cameras at once. The lag is not just about time, it shows Apple’s philosophy. Wait and see if people use a feature, then bring it in with tighter integration and polish.
You might wait longer on iPhone, but the feature often lands with fewer rough edges. The open question for iPhone 17, can that refinement pace keep up with the faster Android cycle, especially in AI where data flywheels matter.
What this means for the smartphone landscape
The iPhone 17 series is not just about borrowed tricks, it points to how competition works in a mature market. The iPhone 17 series isn't so much a walled garden as it is a carefully curated park with bigger gates, helped by Apple’s on device AI and privacy stance. That evolution sets up a feedback loop, Android manufacturers push the boundaries, Apple shows how to tuck new tech neatly into daily use.
If you are an Android user eyeing a switch, iPhone 17 has pull beyond the feature list. Apple chips top efficiency and sustained performance tests, which helps phones feel quick years in. Long-tail iOS support provides useful futureproofing for four or five year owners. And iPhones hold their value better than most Android handsets, resale specialists like SellCell agree, softening the higher upfront cost.
The bigger picture, innovation looks collaborative even when the marketing is not. Android brands test bold ideas in public, then Apple cherry picks the best and integrates them with consistency.
Bottom line, competition makes all phones better. The iPhone 17 series is Apple showing up late to the party, but with the outfit tailored and the seams hidden, and Android fans still end up with better phones because of it.
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