Intel’s announcement “Justin Gets Real: Touch Screens”.
Intel chipmaker produced a series of ads mocking Apple’s M1 Macs, and brought actor Justin Long – famous for his role in Apple’s “I’m a Mac” ads in the 2000s, alongside comedian John Hodgman – to lampoon the Apple’s own advertising campaign.
In five video ads called “Justin Gets Real” that were posted on Intel’s YouTube channel, Long begins by saying, “Hello, I’m a … Justin, just a real person making a real comparison between Mac and PC”, referencing the beginning “Hello, I’m a Mac” and “I’m a PC”, the countless ads from Apple.
Long briefly examines a Windows laptop with an Intel processor and then a Mac equipped with Apple Silicon. Eventually, he comes to conclusions about how Macs are very limited compared to what Intel PCs can do.
It is no coincidence that the two Macs that are compared unfavorably in the ads are MacBook Pro and Apple’s MacBook Air based on M1. Intel has been harassed lately, with Apple’s M1 and AMD’s Ryzen processors consistently beating Intel in performance. The ads appear to be intended to point to other reasons, mostly unrelated to performance, why Intel-based laptops can provide a better experience than Apple’s M1 Macs.
Some of these reasons seem partially true, while others are overkill. In one example, Long examines an Intel-based Windows laptop connected to three external monitors and then sees a Mac laptop that supports only one external monitor. This is true; the new M1 laptops only work with one external monitor at a time by default, although the M1 Mac mini can operate two monitors. Other Macs that still have Intel CPUs work with more monitors, however, as does the Windows machine in the ad.
Intel announcement “Justin Gets Real: 3 Monitors”
That said, this is an example of one of the criticisms highlighted in the ads that may not stand the test of time. Apple made it clear in interviews and statements that the first wave of Macs with Apple Silicon were low-cost machines with limited resources and ports compared to the company’s high-tech laptops. We don’t know for sure yet, but it seems likely that the more expensive Apple Silicon Macs that are due to be released in the coming months will in fact support more external displays.
It is important to note that some of the original Mac ads that these videos are commenting on were equally distorted in their PC characterizations, however.
Other examples of Intel’s new ads include a brief conversation with a PC player, in which the PC player comments, “Nobody really plays on a Mac,” and Long quickly agrees. There is also a sequel in which Long is surprised and disappointed that he cannot use a touch interface on the MacBook’s screen. Instead, he is confused by the Touch Bar (which Apple is expected to discontinue distribution on new Macs later this year, according to some reports).
Intel still provides processors for some Macs, but Apple expects to replace them for most, if not the entire line of Macs in the next year and a half. We’ve incorporated some of the ads above and here’s the rest of the schedule below.
Intel’s announcement “Justin Gets Real: PC Gaming”
Intel’s announcement “Justin Gets Real: 2-in-1 Flexibility”
Intel’s announcement “Justin becomes real: having choices”
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