Everyone's "copying" the iPhone, yet no one steals this?

It's no secret that we've seen our fair share of iPhone copycats over the years. The world's most desirable phone is an inevitable target for any brand looking to branch off its success, and some less reputable manufacturers even aim to trick consumers into thinking that their product is an iPhone too, just "surprisingly" a much cheaper one.

But we won't go into those bootleg iPhones out of China, whose makers literally try to sell them off as real iPhones, and just plaster the Apple logo on the box without even remotely worrying about that whole copyright thing over there in the corner...

We can actually look at trusted phone brands like Google to see that some of them used to be followers, and not leaders in the smartphone industry. Their leader was Apple, like it or not.

Before finding its own identity with the Pixel 6, Google copied both the iPhone notch and its squircle camera island design for some of its previous phones, for example.

A few years back Samsung had to pay about half a billion dollars to Apple for supposedly copying patented iPhone design features, which is another good example.

And there are countless other cases with other brands involved, that we could look at. But it doesn't really matter, because let's be fair – everyone copies everyone, and that's kind of how progress works in the tech world.

What I'd like to comment on is how with all of this alleged iPhone copying from Android phone makers, no one is "copying" my favorite thing about the iPhone right now… And I'd really like them to.

The iPhone 13's flat-edge design

If you've never held an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13, the original iPhone SE, or going further back – the good old iPhone 4 from over a decade ago, you could be missing out on one of the best phone form factors.

Those flat edges may seem like a simpler ordeal than designing a phone with curved ones, but at least to me, the flat iPhone 13 feels infinitely nicer in the hand nonetheless. Not to mention that the iPhone 13 arguably also looks much better and cleaner than the curved-edge phones we keep getting from Android manufacturers such as Google, Samsung, Xiaomi and Asus.

It's what made me buy an iPhone 13

I'm no Apple fanboy, I prefer Android on my phone over iOS, as the latter is pretty restrictive to me. But that flat-edge design has always attracted me.

I missed out on buying the original iPhone SE, which was Apple's modern return to the flat-edge design before the iPhone 12 came out, but now that the Cupertino company releases flagships looking like this, it was finally time for me to give it a try. I switched from big Android phones to the iPhone 13 mini.

"What's the big deal?"

It's not just superficial, this flat-edge iPhone design feels more secure in the hand over a curved-edge phone. It's grippy, easier to pick up from a flat surface, and it is quite comfortable to hold, more so than a curved-edge phone of similar proportions, for me at least.

Some Android phones, including flagships that I've used, can feel plasticky even if their backs are made out of glass. Not all glass is equal after all. Ideally it would be coated with an oleophobic material to prevent fingerprints, perhaps texturized or made matte, so it's less slippery and even more resistant to skin oils. There's a lot that could be done to improve a phone's glass back.

And the textured matte glass back, Ceramic Shield front and stainless steel frame Apple used for the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, for example, feel as premium as you'd expect.

There's also something to be said about how the iPhone 13's utilitarian flat-edge design makes it look more like a tool, rather than an accessory that was designed to be aesthetically fashionable.

Instead, we have a clean and minimalist tool that isn't trying too hard to be flashy and overly-stylized, while still looking and feeling premium. Its flat edges signify that there's no space wasted inside, as is normally the case with rounded corners. There's seemingly nothing that was unnecessary about the design of the iPhone 13.

While for some Android phone makers it's not even enough to make a phone with a curved back, but they feel the need to curve the display too, which is just a superficial thing that helps no one functionally, ever.

Take that iPhone design and put Android on it

What I really want right now is for an Android phone maker to copy the iPhone 13's flat-edge design, so I can go back to my favorite phone operating system while still enjoying a modern, flat phone build.

What about you? Have you used a flat-edge phone? And would you like to see an Android smartphone with an iPhone 13-like flat-edge design?