- Google demonstrated Gemini Spark on an iPhone 17 Pro during Google I/O 2026
- Macs were also used during the keynote
- This was probably no accident, since Apple users represent a high percentage of Google’s potential customers.
If you tuned into the Google I/O keynote yesterday, you may have noticed that during a Gemini Spark demo, an iPhone 17 Pro was used instead of a Google Pixel or any other Android phone. It may seem strange, but it was almost certainly not an accident or carelessness.
After all, Gemini Spark and other Google software are available on iPhones (and Macs, which were also spotted during the presentation) and iPhone users make up a lot of potential customers for Google.
According to DemandSage, there are around 1.56 billion iPhone users in the world, and in Google’s home market, the United States, the iPhone has a market share of 57.24%. Therefore, iPhone users are a much larger potential customer base than Google Pixel users, and if Google focuses primarily on the United States, then they become its largest potential customer base.
An easier sale
So it makes sense to show that tools like Gemini Spark work well on iPhones, since getting iPhone buyers to use Google’s software is probably easier than convincing them to switch to the Pixel.
Plus, anyone already using a Pixel phone or an Android phone in general is already a Google customer and will probably need less convincing to use the company’s services. They will probably also assume that Gemini Spark works on their devices, while there would be less certainty of that in the Apple ecosystem.
So while it may seem strange to see Apple devices used during a Google presentation, this was almost certainly discussed and decided beforehand.
Could it also have been a subtle nod to Google’s AI partnership with Apple? Very possibly. In any case, we will know more about that relationship at WWDC 2026, which is confirmed for June 8.
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