Why Does Everyone Copy Apple?

I was talking to a friend recently and he asked me if I had seen Samsung’s new Galaxy XR? He said that — once again — Samsung had copied Apple and I couldn’t help but smile. Not because he was wrong, but because he was repeating the same myth Apple has been selling us for decades. Apple has somehow convinced us that every time they release something new, it is an innovation. While Apple has been responsible for several innovations in the tech world they've also built upon (or copied?) the ideas of others. This post isn’t about who made what first. It is about Apple’s cult-like following and why Apple always seems to walk away with the trophy.

Apple’s Vision Pro is not an inferior product — far from it — but it certainly isn't the first of its kind. Meta has been doing VR headsets for over a decade now and Samsung shipped their first headset (built in collaboration with Oculus), back in 2015. Not to forget that Microsoft also revealed the HoloLens in 2015, which enabled users to interact with holograms by simply using hand gestures. Just like Apple Vision Pro built upon years of research by Meta & Microsoft, Galaxy XR does the same.

And it's not just headsets. Apple's new design language — Liquid Glass — follows the same pattern. While people like to jokingly compare it to Windows Vista, I don't think that is a fair comparison. IMO, a more appropriate comparison would be the glass look that Microsoft has been pushing with Windows 11. While Microsoft is still chipping away at it, converting their software part by part to the new design language, Apple beat them to it (or did they? If people are complaining about quality control or rather lack of it) and packaged it as Liquid Glass.

Companies have been copying each other since forever. Instagram Stories were lifted from Snapchat, TikTok succeeded where Vine failed, iPad Pro clearly echoes the Surface Pro and Samsung’s Now Bar is inspired by Apple’s Dynamic Island. In other words, imitation is a rule in tech, not an exception. The difference is that when Apple borrows, it’s portrayed as if they invented it. They don’t just polish an idea, they erase its origin story. And when we mistake polish for innovation, branding wins, true innovation gets buried, and Apple walks away with the trophy.

That’s Apple’s real genius! Not the technology itself, but the ability to repackage existing ideas into something luxurious and convincing the world they invented it.