China thinks Apple’s ‘iPhone 11’ looks ugly

Recent survey finds flagging loyalty among Chinese Apple users as some switch to Huawei

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Prototypes based on rumors about the upcoming iPhones that Apple is set to unveil this fall. (Picture: Marques Brownlee via YouTube)

Karen Chiu

Published: 7:51pm, 24 Jul 2019Updated: 9:09am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Apple’s new iPhone models this year may have an improved selfie camera, a better Taptic Engine and an upgraded chipset. But none of these features seem to be impressive enough for China’s smartphone users, who are taking their distaste to social media.

Chinese commenters are focused on one feature in particular. The upcoming models will ship with three rear cameras arranged in a square, according to 9to5Mac. Sources who spoke to the site say it will look largely similar to dummy units that have been making the rounds online.

Reactions from Chinese netizens are overwhelmingly negative. An informal poll conducted by Sina’s tech blog on Weibo shows over 90% of more than 750,000 respondents say the iPhone 11 doesn’t look good.

“Each upgrade gets uglier,” said one of the top comments that’s been liked more than 3,500 times. “What’s wrong with Apple?”

“This looks really ugly,” said another popular comment. “I’m an Apple fan, but forget about this yuba.”

In China, “yuba” refers to a type of bathroom heat lamp with bulbs placed in a square container. The term is commonly used by creative netizens to describe the square rear-camera arrangement on smartphones, first popularized last year by Huawei’s Mate 20 series.