What just happened? In a tradition going back many years, Samsung has once again created an ad that has the sole purpose of throwing shade at rival Apple. This time, it's Cupertino's lack of a foldable device that's primarily being mocked. And while it's long been rumored that a foldable iPhone is in development, it may not launch until 2027.

Samsung's 'Simon Says' advert begins with a jab at Apple's "think different" slogan, noting that the company doesn't like to think too different when it comes to the upgrades added to its latest iPhones. There are few differences between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15, but then many phone makers, including Samsung, often push out devices with incremental upgrades.

The ad also pokes fun at Apple users, suggesting they have a sheep mentality when it comes to buying Apple products, repeatedly upgrading even when the latest devices have almost no new features.

One area where Samsung can claim to be different from Apple, of course, is the Korean firm's foldable devices: the Z Fold and Z Flip.

The ad finishes with the line "Nobody should wait for innovation." The first Galaxy Fold – when it didn't have a Z in the name – launched late in 2019. It was delayed by months after reviewers with pre-release units found the screens were breaking due to debris making its way underneath the display via the center crease.

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Reports of Apple working on a foldable iPhone go all the way back to 2018. But in June this year, market intelligence company TrendForce said a folding iPhone will probably not launch until 2027 at the earliest. Analyst firm Omdia recently repeated that release year in its own prediction. It believes there will be a 7.9-inch to 8.2-inch folding iPhone in 2027, and 13-inch and 18.8-inch foldable iPad Pro models launched in 2029.

This is the second Apple-mocking ad from Samsung in six months. The backlash to Apple's ill-conceived iPad Pro ad in May that showed a giant press slowly lowering, crushing a number of musical instruments, classical sculptures, books, paints, games, cameras, and more, prompted an apology. The company also decided not to run the ad on TV.

It didn't take long for Samsung to capitalize on Apple's mistake. A few days later, the Galaxy-maker released "UnCrush," which you can see below.

Samsung's history of Apple-targeting ads include the advert deriding ten years of iPhones from 2017, which featured a reference to the still-controversial notch. There was also one for the Galaxy S3 from a few years earlier, and a whole series of ads taking aim at the iPhone 12 Pro Max's cameras. Google also got in on the act with several iPhone-mocking ads last year.