Apple Launches New 'Behind the Mac' Ad Campaign

[hans1972]

Apple sells obsolete technology with crappy keyboards.

This is the state of the Mac.

• iMac Pro: 182 days ago
• iMac: 374 days ago
• MacBook: 374 days ago
• MacBook Air: 374 days ago
• MacBook Pro: 374 days ago
• Mac Pro: 436 days ago
• Mac Mini: 1337 days ago

If you look at the models in active development, you will see that you pretty much get at least one new modell each calendar year. The exception being the Mac Pro.

17” Macbook Pro: 2010, 2011 (end of development)
15” Macbook Pro: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
13” Macbook Pro: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

Macbook: 2015, 2016, 2017

11” Macbook Air: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 (end of development)
13” Macbook Air: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 (end of development)

27” iMac: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017
21.5” iMac: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017

iMac Pro: 2017

Mac Mini: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 (end of development)

Mac Pro: 2010, 2012, 2013 (end of development), 2019 (changed their mind)

 

[stevemiller]

still using my 2013 MacBook Pro almost 5 years later. Would be eager to invest in a newer machine... problem is I honestly feel like it's buying by a worse version of what I already have at this point.

I've never EVER gone this long between upgrades since I started using computers in the 90s. It's... bizarre.

 

[aknabi]

For < 10% of the spend on this ad campaign they could have brought the Mac Mini up to at least 2017 spec levels... sorry but I see more and more of the designers in our studio switching to PCs because they just have better choices now and can't wait for Apple to "get it perfect"... they need the best tools they can get on the market and at the moment that isn't Apple gear... hoping that'll change in the next year or so.... I'd be with them but don't have a choice for iOS development....

 

[ChrisCW11]

It's hilarious this company tries to boasts bout it being a post-Computer era when they want to push iPad's out the door, and then completely shift focus back to Mac's when they want to release some new updates.

"Whats a computer?" Apple asks. It's the product division that makes Apple more money then the fledgling iPad sales. Maybe Apple should stop trying to pitch iPad as a computer replacement and just focus on making Mac's the products that consumers actually want.

 

[The_Interloper]

The Mac really is in a dire state. I'm currently using an iPad Pro 12.9 as my 'laptop' as I refuse to spend anything on the current MacBooks until they sort out the keyboard. If I didn't have a Mac Pro as my main computer I'd be shafted; it's a lousy situation right now for anyone relying on a single Mac laptop as their main/only device.

 

[Telomar]

For < 10% of the spend on this ad campaign they could have brought the Mac Mini up to at least 2017 spec levels... sorry but I see more and more of the designers in our studio switching to PCs because they just have better choices now and can't wait for Apple to "get it perfect"... they need the best tools they can get on the market and at the moment that isn't Apple gear... hoping that'll change in the next year or so.... I'd be with them but don't have a choice for iOS development....

It isn’t just the specs, the quality just isn’t there for Apple’s computers anymore. I regularly recommend other brands now but if only iOS development didn’t require a Mac. I do wonder what % is sold to developers these days.

 

[elppa]

I find it hilarious someone signed this off now.

Who could possibly look at the available evidence and then conclude that the best way to boost Macintosh sales is with commercials!?

Either we are getting revisions in a week or (sadly I fear the more likely scenario) nothing is coming until the end of the year, so these commercials are motivated by sheer desperation to prevent sales almost entirely collapsing between now and then.

Those pointing to the annual release schedule are rather getting lost in details and missing the bigger picture. The problem is Apple hasn't produced a good laptop in three years and a good desktop (standalone) in at least six.

 

[ocnitsa]

They left one story out Antonion Villas-Boas wrote this awesome article behind a Mac:

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-macbook-pro-butterfly-keyboard-unreliable-review-2018-5
[doublepost=1529062813][/doublepost]

I find it hilarious someone signed this off now.

Who could possibly look at the available evidence and conclude that the best way to boost Macintosh sales is with commercials!?

Either we are getting revisions in a week or (sadly I fear the more likely scenario) nothing is coming until the end of the year so this is desperation to prevent sales completely collapsing.

Those pointing to the annual release schedule are rather getting lost in details and missing the bigger picture. The problem is Apple hasn't produced a good laptop in three years and a good desktop (standalone) in at least six.

The commercials will work with people who are buying machines for their kids who are leaving for college...It's a little early to reach that crowd, but maybe Apple is priming the pump. It's arguable that the parents of university students and many soon-to-be university students don't care about the things we do. Many of them might not even be aware of the keyboard issues, given the power of the aura of Apple and the sheer exchange value it has merely as a prestige brand.

 

[Glockworkorange]

What is a “Grimes?”

Get off my lawn!

 

[Vonjover]

Funny how the videos feature adapters for the macs. lol

 

[macguru212]

Apple sells obsolete technology with crappy keyboards.

This is the state of the Mac.

• iMac Pro: 182 days ago
• iMac: 374 days ago
• MacBook: 374 days ago
• MacBook Air: 374 days ago
• MacBook Pro: 374 days ago
• Mac Pro: 436 days ago
• Mac Mini: 1337 days ago

And most of those “updates” were inconsequential bumps. Is it even ethical to be selling the Mac mini at this point?

Design decisions, e.g. 1 USB’s c port which is required for power, The ill-conceived touch bar, mindlessly making everything thinner over functionality, and again, those train wreck keyboards, etc., make the current line up worse than what they offered 3 years ago.

No amount of marketing or slick videos is going to fix how bad the hardware situation is, nor will it cover up Aaple’s unwillingness to regularly update the Mac line.

Apple is causing the decay of the Mac through their lack of care, and it breaks my heart.

Another poor design decision IMO: rechargeable magic mice with a charging port on the BOTTOM so you can't use it while it's charging.

 

[elppa]

It's arguable that the parents of university students and many soon-to-be university students don't care about the things we do. Many of them might not even be aware of the keyboard issues, given the power of the aura of Apple and the sheer exchange value it has merely as a prestige brand.

I am sure Apple PR hopes this is the case, unfortunately it is less and less likely as it gets more and more mainstream.

Look what turned up in The Guardian only yesterday:

Are there any laptops with decent keyboards?
Julia would buy a MacBook Pro Retina but she doesn’t like the latest version’s keyboard. What are the alternatives?

Embarrassing.

Reminds me of this: Steve Jobs on PR vs Advertising (I've linked to the relevant bit as it is quite long).

What it means is Apple is trying to spend a lot of money to convince you that everything is OK.

 

[lec0rsaire]

So - maybe this is an indication that they're redesigning macs for the next rev - At the end of that first commercial they focus on the lighted back of a mac. I don't think they'd do this unless they were going to bring it back.

lid leds, new keyboard and magsafe? Maybe that's on the Jony Ive agenda.

That’s a MacBook Air and they chose it specifically because it is the cheapest option so it makes sense for countries with lower average income.

The glowing logo is gone for good. The lid is so thin that making a cutout would weaken it and more importantly it’s better that people said goodbye to it sooner than later since the future is OLED or what they will call the MBP w/ Super Retina Display and they have no backlight.

I love the logo but a change is always good. The stainless steel logo is sleek.

As for MagSafe it is a shame but hey at least those of us with the TB models can charge from both either side.

 

[TallManNY]

Just between close family members I have THREE macs that should be replaced: 2010 Macbook Pro, 2011 iMac (died a few months ago) and a 2012 Macbook Air. It is so frustrating that everything other than the iMac Pro (which is too much for our uses) is a year old at this point. I know Apple will keep making Macs. But I really wish they were more predictable about when they update them and they committed to do so more often.

 

[DevNull0]

Every single current mac model except the iMac pro is passed a year old. Apple could have put a little effort into updating their macs rather than making commercials for products they're clearly leaving to rot on the vine.

A refresh of the 2015 MBPs with a modern CPU would likely do more for mac sales and reputation than this commercial.

But this is the new Apple, lots of being superfluous talk from Tim Cook and the massive marketing engine, and zero progress on the products. As a long time Mac fan, today's Apple makes me feel sick.

Not to mention the base mac specs are so low and upgrades so expensive these days. 128 gig starting storage is a bad joke that is just going to spoil the experience for whoever buys it. SSD is $800/TB on a MBP and $933 for the iMacPro. Compared to $400 for top end SSD and sub $200 for basic SSD outside of AppleLand.

And look at the ports. When the latest MacBook Pro won't connect to the latest iPhone without an adapter that's not included, Apple ha a problem. USB-C only machines are a horrible idea. The touch bar that Apple forced on the market and immediately abandoned. Dumping mag safe, the breathing LED, the glowing Apple logo all to squeeze a few pennies more margin on their inferior product.

And this commercial is supposed to make us think what? Certainly not that Apple cares about the Mac.

 

[Rogifan]

The iPhone keynote is generally just that - iPhone only. We will probably see updated Apple watches, maybe even Airpods and Airpower as well.

Maybe another event after that for iPads and Macs. Has Apple ever announced Macs at an iPhone keynote?

Wasn’t the iPad Pro announced at an iPhone event? There’s no point in having a Mac event for just new internals. I doubt any redesigns or new devices are coming this year. I wouldn’t be suerprised if updated laptops are available for back to school.

 

[Inkling]

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.

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 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.

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

 

[JosephAW]

My favorite made on Mac stories are Myst from cyan made on Mac Quadras.

Sky Captain World of Tomorrow originally rendered on Power Mac 8600 by its creator.
Here's the opening he made on a Mac.

 

[majkom]

Apple sells obsolete technology with crappy keyboards.

This is the state of the Mac.

• iMac Pro: 182 days ago
• iMac: 374 days ago
• MacBook: 374 days ago
• MacBook Air: 374 days ago
• MacBook Pro: 374 days ago
• Mac Pro: 436 days ago
• Mac Mini: 1337 days ago

And most of those “updates” were inconsequential bumps. Is it even ethical to be selling the Mac mini at this point?

Design decisions, e.g. 1 USB’s c port which is required for power, The ill-conceived touch bar, mindlessly making everything thinner over functionality, and again, those train wreck keyboards, etc., make the current line up worse than what they offered 3 years ago.

No amount of marketing or slick videos is going to fix how bad the hardware situation is, nor will it cover up Aaple’s unwillingness to regularly update the Mac line.

Apple is causing the decay of the Mac through their lack of care, and it breaks my heart.

It is much easier to vreate one ad than to update whole mac line up.. cook made profit loss analysis and decided to create ad, to solve mac problem new era, get used to it...

 

[DevNull0]

Just between close family members I have THREE macs that should be replaced: 2010 Macbook Pro, 2011 iMac (died a few months ago) and a 2012 Macbook Air. It is so frustrating that everything other than the iMac Pro (which is too much for our uses) is a year old at this point. I know Apple will keep making Macs. But I really wish they were more predictable about when they update them and they committed to do so more often.

I agree with you that Apple needs to be a lot better at keeping their products up to date, but it doesn't even have to be predictable upgrades. All the other PC companies are constantly refreshing their products as new tech comes out, so when you buy a current model from them you can be reasonably confident you're getting the latest tech today even though you know a new model is coming. It makes the buying decision easy because whenever you need the product, the time is right to buy.

If you have a predictable upgrade schedule you have situations where there's new tech not available as Apple waits for the next planned release and then nobody is buying a computer because they're all waiting for the update.

Even worse, you get into the same disastrous situation Apple in in now with their software. When they're expected to release annual updates, the products are released ready or not, so you have horrible bugs making it into live products all because the calendar said you don't have time to fix them. They should keep their software updates coming out when they've got something worthwhile to release, not when the annual release date rolls around.

 

[smoking monkey]

That main ad is awful. Although Hipsters probably love it.
As for Grimes, dunno who she is, but she's on 4AD? What happened to that label? The glory days are well and truly dead and buried...

 

[Bacillus]

What’s a Mac?

Had to look that up: some central repo to collect all dongle’s Tim wanted me to buy over time

 

[cflem]

Anyone besides me think its rather cool that my 2012 rMBP 8gb runs Mojave... FCPx... Adobe CS... etc - not only well - but likely faster than in 2012... Why do we think we always need faster and more expensive hardware - when the software is getting so much better - we might not always NEED new machines? Apple is about to completely shift to where new hardware might not ALWAYS be the need - but more efficient software will - I love my machine - I'm glad it's still kicking ass.

 

[HughMabin]

One day Tim Cook will become an HBS case study on how focusing entirely on one product is the perfect way to fly a company into the ground...

 

[aidler]

Apple launches way more ad campaigns then products these days.