As every tech enthusiast in the world is no doubt aware, Apple released the first Macs featuring the company's own custom silicon last November. The machines have proven incredibly powerful and incredibly popular – but one company that isn't singing the M1 Macs' praises is Intel, whose chips were unceremoniously dumped from the line up.
And now, like a spurned lover, Intel has launched some serious shade at Apple in the form of a new campaign featuring none other than former "I'm a Mac" actor Justin Long. We've seen plenty of beef between brands before (often in the form of hilarious print ads), and this attempt is certainly provocative – and more than a little desperate.
For the uninitiated, some background intel (sorry): Long is well known for portraying the Mac in Apple's popular 'Get a Mac' ads from the mid-noughties. But here, he's switched sides in a series of videos called 'Justin Gets Real'.
In Intel's new ads, Long promotes the superiority of Intel-based PCs over the new M1 Macs. From a lack of gaming prowess to the absence of a touchscreen, the ads take aim at various perceived Apple shortcomings. One ad (above) even complains that the new machines are only available in "grey and grey" (er, there's also silver and gold, guys).
And now, Intel has stepped up its bitter campaign, launching a new web page comparing Macs and PCs. And, spoiler alert, the Mac fares worse in Intel's comparison, with "limited device support," "limited games" and "limited creation applications" (a bold claim considering the MacBook Pro is our best laptop for graphic designandbest laptop for video editing).
A screenshot from Intel's new PC vs Mac page (Image credit: Intel)
Honestly? The whole thing feels very desperate. How curious that Intel refrained from lobbing a single diss at Apple during their 15-year partnership – only choosing now, the moment its chips are dropped from the machines, to resurrect an argument from the 2000s.
And judging by the response on YouTube, the campaign has backfired. One video has earned twice as many dislikes as likes, and the comments are less than kind. "Apple is laughing knowing that Intel is terrified and desperate," one reads, while another adds: "I've never been a Mac user, and don't use iPhone anymore, but I can tell Apple is doing something right with these chips if Intel is scared enough to make an ad like this."
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And sure, if the M1 Macs weren't ridiculously impressive, perhaps the campaign could have worked. As it happens, Apple's new machines have proven themselves to be amongst the fastest ever produced. Photoshop, a rather well-known "creation application", runs over 1.5 times faster than it does on an Intel-based Mac.
In fact, the only thing that impressed us more than the new machines was the fact that some incredible M1 MacBook deals popped up online so quickly. And be sure to check out today's best M1 Mac deals below for more brilliant offers.
Daniel John is Senior News Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of art, design, branding and lifestyle tech (which often translates to tech made by Apple). He joined in 2020 after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more.
