Apple is going out of the way to trash Windows PCs in a new video that urges incoming college students to adopt MacBooks.
Posted on YouTube, the 7-minute video features comedian Martin Herlihy holding a lecture before a group of high school students, with the goal of teaching them how to convince their parents to buy them a Mac for college.
To do so, Herlihy promotes the “Parent Presentation,” a real downloadable template that a high schooler or college student can use to talk up the merits of owning a Mac. The presentation includes a slide that says, “according to PCMag, Mac is the most reliable laptop,” a reference to a survey of our users, who voted Apple as the most reliable PC brand.
(Credit: Apple)
Although Macs, especially the Pro models, are known to be pricey, the same presentation highlights that buying a 13-inch MacBook at the starting price of $899 amounts to paying $14.98 per month over five years. In both the video and in the downloadable presentation, Apple also takes some digs at Windows PCs.
At one point, Herlihy shows the dreaded Blue Screen of Death that can appear on a Windows PC when it hits a major error, and shouts: “Oh God! My computer crashes. What am I going to do?” before deadpanning, “I’m just kidding. This only happens on a PC.”
(Credit: Apple)
Later on, Herlihy shows another slide that places a thumbs up over buying a Mac and a thumbs down over purchasing a Windows PC. He then claims paying for a PC also requires additional costs, including buying antivirus and backup software, along with paying for “a guard dog to protect it from your roommate.” (We still recommend getting antivirus software for your Mac.)
Although Windows users might roll their eyes at the ad, the video does point out that Apple offers discounts on Macs to education users. Apple just kicked off back-to-school sales, which offers free accessories with a Mac or iPad purchase.
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Still, the video overlooks some reasons why college kids pick a Windows PC over a Mac. Our own guide points out that some colleges and universities actually want their students on Windows-based laptops to cut down on software incompatibility issues. Many games and architecture software are also built for Windows.
Apple’s video arrives years after the company’s famous “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” ads took numerous jabs at the alleged deficiencies of Windows computers. Ironically, the actor Justin Long, who portrayed the Macs, later joined Intel and then Qualcomm in their own marketing to tout new Windows PCs over MacBooks.
You can also check out our own laptop recommendations, which include many Windows PCs.
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About Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
