According to the latest reports, Google released its latest mid-range 5G smartphone, the Pixel 6A, on Wednesday. This A-series model lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack for the first time. Google’s removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack from the Google Pixel 6A follows Apple’s technology trend with the iPhone 7 in 2016, and in that sense, it’s not surprising.
However, as recently as last August, Google was promoting an ad for the Pixel 5A to include a 3.5mm headphone jack, parodying some of the introductory videos Apple’s former design chief Jony Ive made to highlight the iPhone’s new features.
This isn’t the first time Google has indirectly mocked Apple for ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack, only it has since done the same. Google teased the iPhone 7’s lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack when it launched its original Pixel smartphone in 2016, and then launched the Pixel 2 phone without a 3.5mm headphone jack just a year later.
In 2018, Samsung was questioned for its equally short-sighted marketing when it mocked the iPhone X’s lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack in its “Ingenius” ad promoting the Galaxy S9. Five months later, Samsung introduced the Galaxy A8s, its first smartphone without a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The $449 Google Pixel 6A is slightly redesigned from last year’s Pixel 6 series, with a raised camera on the rear that houses a 12MP main camera and a 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens. The Google Pixel 6A is powered by the company’s custom Tensor chip, features a 6.1-inch OLED 1080p 60Hz display, and includes an under-display fingerprint sensor.