Made by Google is coming almost two months earlier than the usual cadence, but is it the right decision?
Just as we were settling in for a long autumn of tech releases, Google pulled the Uno reverse card and announced that, yes, the Pixel 9 series is coming early on August 13, 2024.
While trying not to be overdramatic, this is an unprecedented move for the Pixel line. The earliest previous Made by Google launch event was the online-only Pixel 5 launch on September 30, 2020. By the way, we’re omitting the A-series there which have had mid-year launches but somewhat random tie-in events like Google I/O.
The heavy emphasis on AI in the early marketing for this Made by Google event could hint at something to rival the well-received Apple Intelligence that was announced at WWDC. Maybe Google has something up its sleeve that can rival this and wants to beat Apple – and by extension the iPhone 16 series – to the punch?
Samsung is also set to drop new hardware on July 10, which means that Google will follow-on from Android’s market leader. The Korean tech giant is expected to launch new tablets, Wear OS watches, and a couple of updated foldable plus the highly anticipated Galaxy Ring.
Luckily, we only have 6 weeks to wait to find out.
Top comment by Berni Hargrove
This is such a weird poll. Not only for it's layout but the question itself. I don't think we'd be asking the same question if Apple moved up a month.
An August release lines up better with Android and they should have hardware using ARM cores that came out at the beginning of the year closer to that release among many other reasons.
A better question would be should they keep this release as the new normal.
There are so many questions that will no doubt be answered. We’re going to see 4 phones labeled “Pixel 9”:
- Pixel 9
- Pixel 9 Pro
- Pixel 9 Pro XL
- Pixel 9 Pro Fold
That’s just the phones. There are also going to be two versions of the Pixel Watch measuring 41mm and 45mm, respectively:
- Pixel Watch 3
- Pixel Watch 3 XL
Made by Google 2024 is going to be the biggest launch for the Pixel lineup since 2016. We might even see more devices like the rumored first-party Bluetooth tracker or, hopefully, new Pixel Buds. There’s so much to potentially unpack and not long to wait.
Is it the right time for such a launch event? Is an early Made by Google a good idea to get ahead of the pack sensible? Have your say in our survey below.
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