Apple Launches New 'Behind the Mac' Ad Campaign

[hans1972]

TOO BAD the latest Macbook Pros are a complete disaster.

The issue raised was about timing, not about what you thought about the updates.

 

[buckwheet]

We are probably talking about different areas.

In my area with video editing for studios, they are typically done on Avid workstations. You can get some work done on laptops, but final production is usually sent through via workstations.

Sure, fair enough.

 

[sailingjason]

hilarious that one of the ads features a cable adapter.

I have the MBP w/ USB-C and have opted to buy cables from amazon whenever needed rather than use adapters, much more aesthetically pleasing. I'm surprised they allowed the adapters in the ad.

 

[Telomar]

They have done exactly that several times.

The trouble is that even if they green-field it and start from scratch, they will still have to roadmap, plan, support, patch, update, upgrade, etc. THAT version for the next decade. So they will have therefore forked Windows, increasing their workload and dividing their userbase.

Instead they returned to the hardest possible road that also happens to be the road most likely to lead to long-term success: They spent 20 years building newer concepts into their old OS, while waiting for the old bits to gracefully "age out" on a timeline that enterprise could tolerate.

That's why Windows 10 is now on the verge of becoming a service, which is an incredible feat.

By the way they did the same thing with real server OSes, which is mind boggling.

Meanwhile, at the kids' table, the Fruit Company's plans for any given feature or management tool are a secret. IT departments find out that something is changing or gone on the same day that it changes or is gone.

Imagine setting up management and security on 1000 laptops (or servers) and then finding out one day that the vendor changed the pathways that you were using for control.

Universities famously experience this the hard way since they have (or used to have) mac computer labs. You would come to school one day and 400 macs would be unusable because Apple changed how they bind to a domain. SURPRISE!

It's literally impossible for enterprise to take a risk like that, so they don't. That's why you don't see mac in enterprise in any meaningful way.

If you haven't tried Windows 10 in the last year, you would be surprised. It's really, really good. And really, really secure. And really stays out of your way. Reminds me of MacOS at the start of the 2000's.

Nadella knows what he's doing. And the results are apparently in sales and market penetration.

I think you overstate the difficulty here somewhat. In an enterprise of over 30,000 people we can support macs. A lot of it is now done with kubernetes.

 

[MyMacintosh]

Oh, wow. Look. First time in a while I actually like an ad apple has put out

 

[wizard]

You make some good points. Comments inline>

Ads say a lot about a company, but you have to know how to read them. Here's a quick lesson.

• Some are aimed at the company's target audience. For Apple that's the emoticon crowd. Physically adults, emotionally they're pre-literate kindergarteners. These are the Apple ads that look like children's games. Lots of bounce and action because these people have the attention span of four-year-olds.
• Some of aimed at concealing a company's problems with happy talk. If reliability is a problem (i.e. keyboards), they will claim reliability is great. These tend to be more serious and factual, almost like TV documentaries and much like these. An ad maker's goal with these it so counter well-known facts with prettily packaged lies.

I'm not sure which group Apple is after. It really doesn't matter because at this point buying any mac is an act in stupidity. Maybe that is Apples new target group - the stupid.

The fact to be concealed in this case is that long ago, Apple gave up on making products for creative professionals like me. That is why it is absurd to make ads claiming otherwise. The company literally does not make a Mac, laptop or desktop, that I'd buy even at half their inflated prices and hasn't for many years. Indeed, they don't seem to realize just what our needs are—power, upgradability, flexibility, and easy repair. But raise that as an issue, and some Apple exec will lecture us—who know far more about what we need than he does—why we are wrong. At Apple, it's "Our way or the highway."

I've waoted years for Apple to produce a decent desktop computer and frankly I gave up on them and went with a MBP way back in 2008. So it has literally been 10 years and they have done absolutely nothing for the desktop line up that goes beyond supporting the trivial user.

The funny thing here is that they had an excellent chassis in the Mac Pro to make an incredible desktop computer that sells at a reasonable price. Instead we got configuration that had to come with two GPU cards and high end XEON chips. I'm talking a 1200 to $1500 computer that a variety of professionals would have willingly put down cash for.

I've begun looking at that Windows highway and discovering that there's a lot of to be said in its favor. Apple is stubbornly refusing to give me choices I can accept. In the Windows world, there's an abundance of choices and many of them are good. And since my creative work is with Adobe's Creative Cloud apps, I can make the switch in but a single morning without spending a penny.

For reasons I won't go into I purchased a HP ENVY with the new AMD APU. Right now it runs Windows but honestly I can't recommend Windows to anybody. Compared to Apples software Windows is buggy as hell and not extremely stable. It seems like you get weekly updates to fix one issue or another and tocreate a few more. To put it bluntly it sucks for reliability.

My long term goal was to install Linux and that will happen soon but the problem is bugs there also. I'm far more comfortable in the UNIX like environments thanm the mess that is
windows. Linux may not work for you but it might be the palce to run Windows under a VM. At least with a VM you get the ability to manage your VM's, even back them up, so if they crash completely you aren't stuck.

I've been using Macs exclusively since 1990. That's 28 years, but I may not be using them much longer.

For me it is Deja Vu. I owned a Mac PLus way back in the day and it was great for the time but Apple couldn't get a new machine out the door for nothing. The parallels with today are stark. Plenty of chips to build the machines with but Apple just couldn't get out of the way of its own a$$. Other notables where the focus on minimalism and actually being obstinate with respect too features users wanted. The parallels are so bad and stark that I just want to scream out and tell them they are digging their own grave. In the end if I can't get the Macs I want I will (did actually) look elsewhere and will likely have to drop other non Mac hardware. The ignorance displayed by these ads will just fan the flames of revolt.

 

[Abazigal]

hilarious that one of the ads features a cable adapter.

I have the MBP w/ USB-C and have opted to buy cables from amazon whenever needed rather than use adapters, much more aesthetically pleasing. I'm surprised they allowed the adapters in the ad.

I have never understood this whole hysteria over adaptors. You mean you never used them for your previous MacBook airs and pros?

 

[elppa]

Thanks. Fantastic insight.

I really appreciate what you’re saying about the corporate experience with deploying and supporting windows boxes over MS Windows boxes.

From my own experience about the Windows UX (and I’m not an expert in this):

I have tried Windows 10 in the last few years and I do find it to be bit of a mess!:

• Some modern apps have the fluid design. Some don’t. Fair enough, MS is slowly getting to these one by one i.e. even Office (Office!) is going fluid (gradually)
• Lots of different styles of right click and pop up menus!
• In all seriousness, it does feel odd to use the new start menu and then to switch to the desktop and explorer which is the traditional desktop. I’m sure explorer will go fluid at some point but I’d imagine this will be one of the last apps to as it’s so critical to the Windows productivity experience
• Settings and control panel. Ouch! Progress is being made. But.... Ouch. Although I get your point about compatibility and keeping lots of older control panel 3rd Party applets running
• Windows accessory applications - still look like the windows 7 versions (and some even earlier). Ok this is a minor thing and I know that ms have made a way for apps built on older frameworks to get fluid design
• And finally, in general windows feels like it’s a mash up of the older Win32 ideas with the new fluid look and it can often feel jarring.

I know that ms have now got a windows experience division, so let’s hope that they unveil a big update for next spring fixing much of these issues I mentioned above. The fall update seems to be shaping up to be pretty minor.

You are absolutely spot on and I feel if Windows was even slightly better it might apply a bit more pressure on Apple to do the right things and stop cruising. They appear to competing to see who can execute worse - Apple with desktop hardware or Microsoft with desktop software.

Microsoft sit around waiting for their precious insider feedback and up votes - but no one seems to be managing overall and consequently there appears little urgency to achieve anything much at all. No one is setting a clear direction and driving it forward with a cohesive or consistent vision. Your example of the control panel to settings migration sums it up perfectly - they have been working on this for about six years (it first appeared in Windows 8) and it is still ongoing... I think I will be dead before that particular migration is ever finished. Microsoft have also (like Apple) neglected QA, which is inconveniencing users and denting confidence in the service model. Transparent auto update isn't so transparent if keeps breaking stuff!

Steven Sinofsky had the right concept to begin with - shove all the legacy crap away and treat it as just another app. This was followed two mistakes, the first was inexplicably designing a modern tablet environment with little toy apps, whereas they needed to design a modern desktop environment with real apps instead. The second was trying bring enterprises along at the same time.

The truth is the Windows UX is still overall horrible (you diplomatically omit any mention of the adverts) and they still don't really have a proper message developers can believe. Focus on the "Windows bridge" and PWAs just make it even less likely modern UWP apps will ever get written. Who can really blame developers though if Microsoft won't fully commit to the technology themselves. Your example of File Explorer is a good one - Microsoft started rewriting Explorer as UWP (and you can access it) but then they seem to have abandoned and are content to just re-skin the existing version with a dark theme.

Microsoft is in enterprise because they recognize that every feature, API, application, and UX concept that they release must be supported on business-length timelines.

And because of how business works, those timelines are usually around a decade long.

So as much as it may offend modern aesthetic sensibilities, Microsoft knows that once they include the Control Panel and get IT departments to support, adopt, adapt, deploy, and manage it, they can't simply "take it away' because their UX designers came up with a better metaphor.

That dedication is one of the reasons why Microsoft is a successful computer company, and Apple as a *computer* company will always be eating the scraps from the big boys' table.

EDIT: For clarification, I mean that Apple computers have always had single-digit market penetration worldwide. And such low enterprise penetration that it can safely be rounded to zero. (True story.)

The original post from bluecoast concerned how Microsoft can disrupt Apple's Mac business. If the Mac is barely in the enterprise as you claim then logically if follows that none of these factors should present a barrier to Microsoft either when trying to attract Mac users.

In other words it would be perfectly possibly to have a SKU which moves the Windows platform forward whilst simultaneously serving the enterprise with a different SKU.

I don't think it is completely accurate argument either. In the age of bring your own device (BYOD) these old rules are being rewritten. iOS devices are deployed across all kinds of enterprises. IBM has 100,000 Macs deployed. On a more pedantic point Apple generally sticks with their APIs as well and supports them for a long time.

 

[Appleaker]

"Substantially easier and more affordable", she says using a 2016/2017 MacBook Pro and a dongle + USB hub.

 

[errin]

Left behind.

 

[geromi912]

Behind the Mac? You’d probably find a burnt gpu.

 

[SteveW928]

In the Windows world, there's an abundance of choices and many of them are good. And since my creative work is with Adobe's Creative Cloud apps, I can make the switch in but a single morning without spending a penny.

Hmm, yea. If I weren't so entrenched in the eco-system, I'd probably already be gone. If I were just using a single app, or something like Adobe Creative Cloud where I could just swap platforms, it wouldn't be so painful.

I've heard horror stories, though, in things like audio or video production. I suppose if you go real mainstream with the hardware and Adobe suite, then you bypass those issues?

Here's a thought. Take the 2015 MBP, switch out the mini display ports for TB3/USB-C, keep everything else the same, and stuff new chipsets inside and add 32GB of RAM. Bam. Perfect computer.

Yeah, I'd love to see that kind of A/B testing as to which sells more (at least to the real pro market). I'm not sure the true pros are the actual target market, though.

So, you are complaining about computers that, other than the mini and the Pro, have been updated a year ago or less, right?
...
You do realize, of course, that CPU advancements have pretty much come to a halt, speed-wise, at least. And GPU advancements are "getting there", too. So, other than "changing the height of the tail-fins", just WHAT, exactly, is to be gained by FORCING an "Update" for anything BUT the Mac mini and the Mac Pro?

A year or so, I guess but there are relevant updates within that timeframe. Specifically, the 13" MBP could go quad-core and the 15" 6-core.... or have more powerful cooling with same number of cores, which means less throttling (and damaging internal components). That wouldn't be 'changing height of tail fins'.

iMacs could benefit from these too, as well as switching to SSD. (Heck, the last iMac I bought was a base model 21", and it had quad-core.

Ok, so since it is a given that you will need at least ONE screen, what is so wrong about the iMac/iMac Pro? You do realize, of course, that they can have additional screens hooked-up to them, right?

But, you're stuck with the screen of that iMac in the mix... AND you can't plug any other sources into it. If you have a PC, other Mac, gaming console, etc. you would need another display for it. It's a single-use display.

So while it is good news that Apple has stopped their utter neglect of promoting the Mac platform, it still begs the question of which VP should be lynched for having fallen asleep in the control room for the past half decade.

Sadly, I'm not sure anyone fell asleep. It was probably part of the plan, just executed too early. I'm guessing aside from laptops, the iMac Pro was the Mac desktop line. And, the vast majority of the current Mac user base is to switch to iPads. If I'm right, that's the vision, and like things like 3.5mm jacks and and USB-C, Apple tried to jump on that plan a bit too soon. Users revolted, and now they are backpedaling.

Ah, the old "It doesn't suit MY use-case; so it is IRRELEVANT to ALL!

The problem with your dismissive attitude is, you are talking about a market that, while fascinating, is not where Apple wants to play.

While I realize this was in the context of enterprise and thin-clients... I think it might also apply to the pro market. Apple just isn't as serious about playing there anymore. The pro-user MY use-case gets replaced with the more average user with money because there are more of them. They can sell more semi-pro equipment than pro equipment.

Maybe one day they will be back to comparing their own chips to Intel's speeds.

I suppose I'd look forward to that day, except what about software? x86 is still important to many pros (i.e.: VMs or certain software packages, or outright running Windows). And, most of the iOS development isn't really worth being ported, at least not for Mac pros.

Probably not as external GPU's have no place in a workstation machine.

I'm not so sure about that... http://barefeats.com/imacpro_vs_pt7.html

If you haven't tried Windows 10 in the last year, you would be surprised. It's really, really good. And really, really secure. And really stays out of your way. Reminds me of MacOS at the start of the 2000's.

Hmm... I hope you're right, as that's my fall-back.

 

[logain]

Should be more appropriately titled: "Behind on the Mac"

 

[ocnitsa]

Not sure if I fully agree with this. I don't think most people need 32 GB RAM here. For example, on my PC gaming machine, I have 16 GB DDR4 with a Geforce 1080 Ti. I do video editing and high res gaming perfectly fine.

Whether or not most people need it is a moot point...they claimed they wouldn't do it because the non-low powered RAM would suck more energy and require a logic board revision which would take up more room that is being used for the battery...that's only a problem if you envision it in a chassis that is the same (anemic) size. Like I said, mono-obsessive focus on thinness. I'm not insinuating that every model needed that option...only a real pro machine needs that option. Hence, you'll see in lines like the XPS 15, it's only available for the highest tier configuration...cause most people are going to buy the entry or mid tier.

The RAM issue is only one example of how thinness as an overarching concern is a problem with "pro" lines (at least in Apple's case).
[doublepost=1529146774][/doublepost]

Absolutely agree. Although I admit that the form factor of the 2016+ is nice, I'd gladly use a 2015-sized machine in order to avoid the many problems associated with this overemphasis on thinness. While I once thought Ive was pretty brilliant, recent decisions seem to indicate otherwise.
[EDIT: Mind you, I'd never buy a 17" machine. Too large for me, as I travel a lot. Combining the 2015 thickness with the width/height of the 2016 would be perfect, imho.]
[doublepost=1529074410][/doublepost]
EXACTLY!!!

I'm not interested in a 17 inch machine either...my 2012 MBPr has a great design (if not some components that could be better)...But, I'm looking hard at PC laptop offerings as more future proof than Apple, at this point. Waiting (not optimistically) to see what Apple does with this year's update to MBP.

 

[bluecoast]

You are absolutely spot on and I feel if Windows was even slightly better it might apply a bit more pressure on Apple to do the right things and stop cruising. They appear to competing to see who can execute worse - Apple with desktop hardware or Microsoft with desktop software.

Microsoft sit around waiting for their precious insider feedback and up votes - but no one seems to be managing overall and consequently there appears little urgency to achieve anything much at all. No one is setting a clear direction and driving it forward with a cohesive or consistent vision. Your example of the control panel to settings migration sums it up perfectly - they have been working on this for about six years (it first appeared in Windows 8) and it is still ongoing... I think I will be dead before that particular migration is ever finished. Microsoft have also (like Apple) neglected QA, which is inconveniencing users and denting confidence in the service model. Transparent auto update isn't so transparent if keeps breaking stuff!

Steven Sinofsky had the right concept to begin with - shove all the legacy crap away and treat it as just another app. This was followed two mistakes, the first was inexplicably designing a modern tablet environment with little toy apps, whereas they needed to design a modern desktop environment with real apps instead. The second was trying bring enterprises along at the same time.

The truth is the Windows UX is still overall horrible (you diplomatically omit any mention of the adverts) and they still don't really have a proper message developers can believe. Focus on the "Windows bridge" and PWAs just make it even less likely modern UWP apps will ever get written. Who can really blame developers though if Microsoft won't fully commit to the technology themselves. Your example of File Explorer is a good one - Microsoft started rewriting Explorer as UWP (and you can access it) but then they seem to have abandoned and are content to just re-skin the existing version with a dark theme.



The original post from bluecoast concerned how Microsoft can disrupt Apple's Mac business. If the Mac is barely in the enterprise as you claim then logically if follows that none of these factors should present a barrier to Microsoft either when trying to attract Mac users.

In other words it would be perfectly possibly to have a SKU which moves the Windows platform forward whilst simultaneously serving the enterprise with a different SKU.

I don't think it is completely accurate argument either. In the age of bring your own device (BYOD) these old rules are being rewritten. iOS devices are deployed across all kinds of enterprises. IBM has 100,000 Macs deployed. On a more pedantic point Apple generally sticks with their APIs as well and supports them for a long time.

Great post!

And yes, you're right, I forgot about the ads. And the relentless pushing of Edge.

The Mac equivalent would be passive aggressive pop ups urging you to use Safari whenever you launched Chrome or Firefox, ads for iCloud Drive in the Finder and Launchpad. And ads for Apple Music in iTunes. Errr... Moving swiftly along!

And thanks for the background on the development of Windows 8.

Now that they have Joe B as a VP (SVP?) of User Experience, I really really hope that he starts pulling together a plan to really make Windows shine.

I do use Windows from time to time and follow the fast track builds news and there's precious evidence of a plan right now. Just lots of features that various teams are working on which get marked for release in their sprint increments (it does look like MS are using agile).

Which is great on one hand as you don't have to wait ages to get a feature, but on the other hand it leads to a scrappy appearance as various parts of Windows are modernised in no particular order.

I really do want Windows to be great in terms of it being a platform that creatives would willingly use, because it would force Apple to be great.

 

[grad]

Ok, so since it is a given that you will need at least ONE screen, what is so wrong about the iMac/iMac Pro? You do realize, of course, that they can have additional screens hooked-up to them, right?

Why on earth do I need a 27" AIO computer standing between my keyboard and my (better/larger) screens ? And why do I have to listen to the noise from this computer being too near to my ears ?

 

[VictorTango777]

I think it’s what’s called an ‘awareness’ campaign, as they call it in marketing speak.

This isn’t about driving sales to a product - it’s more of a ‘mood/empathy’ piece where you are conveying a message to a target market

So I think its message is:

‘Hey creatives - we haven’t forgotten about you. You’re important to us. You’re the crazy ones. The Mac is for you. Stay tuned. Good things are coming’.

Let’s hope that we don’t have to wait too long!

Would "damage control" be a more appropriate term, like those recent Wells Fargo ads?

 

[GizmoDVD]

I stopped using my Mac and use my iPad Pro and its been a fine replacement.

 

[bluecoast]

Would "damage control" be a more appropriate term, like those recent Wells Fargo ads?

Well true. I’d love to read an inside story into the development of the MBP 2016 and through to 2017 and how Apple misread their customers so badly.

 

[IWantItThatWay]

I am not going to lie, I never expected to see a Mac-centric ad campaign from Apple again.

Think Different was a legendary campaign. Switchers was terrible and should've never made it out of concept stage. I'm a Mac/I'm a PC was once again legendary. The Mac Genius ad campaign bombed so hard I don't even think it got more than 5 commercials.

If we follow the patter, this ad campaign will be a hit. The ads do look great though, and I hope it continues for a bit.

 

[ktecac]

You are intentionally and disingenuously misquoting what Apple (Tim Cook) has said on the subject. Why?

All that does is diminish your credibility.

I didn't quote anyone except you in my response to you so not sure what you're referring to?

Here is an example of Apple referencing the end of the PC from not too long ago. Not sure if you've seen these ad campaigns since the release of the iPad Pro - but you said a post that 20+ people liked 'made no sense' so thought I'd maybe explain why lol.

General perception of Apple is that they have been suggesting the iPad and iPad Pro as an all out replacement for Macs. Its obviously not the case but if you take a look at the general sentiment you'll see articles about how developers are concerned about the lack of new Mac computers. I think there was one posted today on MR you should check it out even if you don't agree - its a good example of how some people are feeling about current state of Apple computers.

 

[Kabeyun]

It's overrated. My "trash can" Mac Pro at work runs High Sierra as the main OS, yes, but it's also an amazing (X)Ubuntu machine...

I meant as opposed to some iOS convergence OS, which, in spite of Apple’s protestations, seems to be where they’re going.

 

[citysnaps]

I didn't quote anyone except you in my response to you so not sure what you're referring to?

Here is an example of Apple referencing the end of the PC from not too long ago. Not sure if you've seen these ad campaigns since the release of the iPad Pro - but you said a post that 20+ people liked 'made no sense' so thought I'd maybe explain why lol.

General perception of Apple is that they have been suggesting the iPad and iPad Pro as an all out replacement for Macs. Its obviously not the case but if you take a look at the general sentiment you'll see articles about how developers are concerned about the lack of new Mac computers. I think there was one posted today on MR you should check it out even if you don't agree - its a good example of how some people are feeling about current state of Apple computers.

I responded to your post where you asserted: "Apple has been trying to convince us for years that creative professionals and other pro users can get by just fine with just an iPad."

I can't play your video, but it sounds like you're still claiming Apple is trying to convince creative professionals and other pro users can get by just fine with just an iPad.

Perhaps you can point to something from Apple that corroborates your above assertion regarding creative professionals and other pro users.

 

[pilgrim2812]

I was ecstatic with my 2013 MacBook Pro which lets you plug just about anything into it. Now you must carry a bag of dongles wherever you go and still no touch screen or any other appreciable features. The Touch Bar is a toy. Even the Magsafe power connector is gone. I will not buy a new MacBook Pro until Apple decides to move forward rather than backward.

 

[oyabroch!]

Trying SO hard NOT to individually stereotype, that they end up doing a cliched, "general" stereotypical "diversity" skit... Oh brother... -_-

Apple could use weird Al to do some ads - THAT would be funny!