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Pixel 11 Pro vs. iPhone 17 Pro: Can a re-run contend with a re-do [Video]

Published: 08/21/2026, 04:00 PM

How close does the Pixel 11 Pro get to the iPhone 17 Pro? Does Google’s best of 2026 contend with Apple’s best of 2025? Find out here. The iPhone 18 series is on the horizon, but with Google opting to go out in front of Apple and as the market leader in the “premium” segment, it’s always good to use it as a yardstick for where the Pixel should be for the upcoming year. Whether Android or iOS, a few things that are easy to distinguish, so let’s get into the details. For more video content, subscribe to 9to5Google on YouTube. In any other year, it would be someone pointing out that the iPhone hasn’t changed, but it’s the inverse or has been for a couple of years on the Pixel side of the fence. I like that Google has refined the design again. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and yes, that applies to the Pixel this year. The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL take a well-received, standout design and make admittedly tiny changes. Nobody would have expected this just a few years ago. We had Pixels evolving on a yearly basis, while Apple is the company shaking up its key phone design. Metal and glass versus glass and metal is the best way to describe the two designs. You’ve seen one before, and the other is genuinely a great take on what a modern iPhone should be. I do hate how much better the iPhone’s magnets are at the back of the phone. Pixelsnap is not quite as grippy; it’s better than last year, but could be a little stronger. With a violent shake, you might be able to dislodge your phone from a mount, but it would have to be very violent, put that that way. The displays are where things deviate a little bit as the Pixel 11 Pro gets another panel bump, which elevates the maximum brightness up to 3,600 nits peak. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is still solid at 3,000 nits, but the display tuning is quite different. Apple’s display tuning favors muted, natural colors out of the box, while Google leans into rich colors and contrast. You can change this at almost any time, which is great. On the iPhone, the hardware gimmicks are the Action button and Camera control buttons. I’d hasten to add that they are not “gimmicks” in the same way that HiLight is on the Pixel. Sure, the LED has some utility, but bringing back notification LEDs that only work in certain circumstances feels a little like a lack of new ideas. Apple has a history in hardware, almost always at the top of its game. Google has closed the quality gap in the last few years. There’s not as much separating this duo as in years gone by. I was worried last year that Google might try to do the stupid thing of trying to replicate Liquid Glass. Instead, we’ve seen something weird happen. Gaussian blur and somewhat frosted glass are being put into more places with Android 17 and the upcoming Android 17 QPR1 – which will release in a few weeks.