I’m sick of people comparing iPhone’s Object Eraser with Samsung’s—Samsung’s version needs the internet while Apple’s works offline.

I keep seeing people compare the Object Eraser on iPhone and Samsung across social media—Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and even Reddit. Then, Samsung/Android fans claim Apple is “less advanced” because they say iPhone’s Object Eraser produces bad results, showing examples where it looks scary or hilarious, while Samsung’s looks perfect.

What they don’t realise is that Samsung’s Object Eraser requires the internet to work. Meanwhile, Apple’s Object Eraser runs completely offline—it processes everything on-device, without sending data to the cloud. The software is downloaded to the iPhone itself, so it works even without an internet connection.

The Galaxy S25 this year barely has any real hardware upgrades except for the new Qualcomm chip. They even removed the Bluetooth features from the S Pen just to make the phone slightly slimmer and lighter. Instead, Samsung’s big selling point for the S25 is AI-powered features—but most of these features run online and can be added to older phones through software updates. The so-called “the most advanced AI feature”, Object Eraser, is actually just an internet-based tool that could work on any phone. Even a budget phone using an AI website to erase objects can produce similar results to the Galaxy S25, because both rely on cloud-based AI rather than on-device processing.

Last year, at least the S24 Ultra had some small hardware upgrades to justify an upgrade—Titanium frame (copied from Apple), the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, and Corning’s new anti-reflective glass. There was also the controversial camera change: upgrading to 50MP for the telephoto lens but downgrading the optical zoom from 10x to 5x, which actually worsened zoom quality compared to the S23 Ultra. But Samsung pushed ‘Galaxy AI’ as the main focus for the S24 Ultra, making the launch feel more like an event for software rather than for a hardware device — especially since older Samsung phones also got those AI features through software updates.

Meanwhile, Apple focuses on actual hardware changes when launching a new iPhone. Software updates, including AI-powered features, are discussed separately at WWDC because they apply to both new and old devices.

I’m not an Apple fanboy. In fact, I think Apple may be less innovative than some Chinese brands in certain aspects—many Chinese phones have genuinely impressed me. But Samsung is the least innovative of them all. Apple is actually the most innovative in terms of hardware and technology, yet people act like Samsung is the most advanced company, while Apple is the worst at innovation. In reality, Samsung has relied mostly on marketing and AI hype, while Apple continues to push real hardware advancements.

This year, the S25 Ultra leans even harder on AI features like Object Eraser, but the key difference is that Samsung’s version requires an internet connection, while Apple’s version works offline, directly on the iPhone.

I keep seeing people compare the Object Eraser on iPhone and Samsung across social media—Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and even Reddit. Then, Samsung/Android fans claim Apple is “less advanced” because they say iPhone’s Object Eraser produces bad results, showing examples where it looks scary or hilarious, while Samsung’s looks perfect.

What they don’t realise is that Samsung’s Object Eraser requires the internet to work. Meanwhile, Apple’s Object Eraser runs completely offline—it processes everything on-device, without sending data to the cloud. The software is downloaded to the iPhone itself, so it works even without an internet connection.

The Galaxy S25 this year barely has any real hardware upgrades except for the new Qualcomm chip. They even removed the Bluetooth features from the S Pen just to make the phone slightly slimmer and lighter. Instead, Samsung’s big selling point for the S25 is AI-powered features—but most of these features run online and can be added to older phones through software updates. The so-called “the most advanced AI feature”, Object Eraser, is actually just an internet-based tool that could work on any phone. Even a budget phone using an AI website to erase objects can produce similar results to the Galaxy S25, because both rely on cloud-based AI rather than on-device processing.

Last year, at least the S24 Ultra had some small hardware upgrades to justify an upgrade—Titanium frame (copied from Apple), the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, and Corning’s new anti-reflective glass. There was also the controversial camera change: upgrading to 50MP for the telephoto lens but downgrading the optical zoom from 10x to 5x, which actually worsened zoom quality compared to the S23 Ultra. But Samsung pushed ‘Galaxy AI’ as the main focus for the S24 Ultra, making the launch feel more like an event for software rather than for a hardware device — especially since older Samsung phones also got those AI features through software updates.

Meanwhile, Apple focuses on actual hardware changes when launching a new iPhone. Software updates, including AI-powered features, are discussed separately at WWDC because they apply to both new and old devices.

I’m not an Apple fanboy. In fact, I think Apple may be less innovative than some Chinese brands in certain aspects—many Chinese phones have genuinely impressed me. But Samsung is the least innovative of them all. Apple is actually the most innovative in terms of hardware and technology, yet people act like Samsung is the most advanced company, while Apple is the worst at innovation. In reality, Samsung has relied mostly on marketing and AI hype, while Apple continues to push real hardware advancements.

This year, the S25 Ultra leans even harder on AI features like Object Eraser, but the key difference is that Samsung’s version requires an internet connection, while Apple’s version works offline, directly on the iPhone.