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Samsung laughs at Apple's dongles in latest Galaxy S9 ads

The parody comes complete with a fake Apple Store and a very fake Apple Genius.

Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
Sean Hollister

Samsung's latest ad campaign for the Galaxy S9 is poking Apple where it hurts -- right in the dongle. 

(In other words, they're making fun of the extra adapters and cables that Apple users increasingly need to access "legacy" devices like wired headphones, SD card slots and other cables.)

While the ad is definitely a parody of the Apple Store and the whole Apple Genius concept, it does sound surprisingly like a real conversation a would-be iPhone buyer might have chatting with a friend:

"A dongle?"
"Yeah, a dongle. It comes in the box."
"But what if I just need to charge at the same time?"

"Then you're going to need another type of dongle."
"Like a double dongle?"

"Yeah, a double dongle. I guess." 
"That sounds explicit!"

Same goes for this Samsung ad, where a buyer discovers you need to buy an additional cable and adapter to fast-charge an iPhone 8 or iPhone X:

It's funny because it's true!

Which I can't quite say about Samsung's other two ads that are part of the same campaign, below. Speed and camera quality are pretty subjective, and we found the Galaxy S9 and iPhone X neck-and-neck in our camera tests. But you can watch them below.

Apple didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

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