The war between Mac computers and Windows-powered PCs have been commencing since the very early beginnings of the Apple and Microsoft.
Since Steve Jobs headed Apple to create some unique and expensive products, and Bill Gates led Microsoft to make computers available in all people's homes, comparing the two is like comparing apple to oranges.
But what is behind them is equally important.
Behind software companies racing to create the best of software products, there are hardware companies that create the chips that are the brains for the operating systems.
And back in those days, Intel was the largest of them all. At that time, Intel's CPUs powered almost every computer on the planet.
Then suddenly, Apple introduced the M1 to replace Intel's x86 chips. That moment quickly turned Apple from being a loyal Intel customer to Intel's biggest competitor.
Intel that was once among the popular stock option, suddenly became a "laughing" stock. And this annoyed Intel.
As one of the ways to fight Apple, because the Cupertino-based company is no longer its partner, Intel hires Justin Long.
Justin Long is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and also a director.
In the early days of Mac vs. PC, Apple hired Long, and associated its early Mac computers with Long’s mug, as he tried to sell on how cool he, and Mac computers are, when compared to the bland, and the more nerdy-looking PCs.
At that time, Apple had a marketing campaign it called the 'Get a Mac', which ran from 2006 to 2009.
The advertisements were shown in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany.
And Long was the star for the campaigns' American advertisements.
The actor was the "I'm a Mac guy."
But gone are those days.
Long is no longer associated with Apple, and Intel is making use of this, as its way to fight back..
Intel hired Long to troll Apple, and made him to convert from a Mac guy he once was, into a PC guy,
The chipmaker showcased Long in a series of short videos on its channel on YouTube.
"Hello, I'm a — Justin. Just a real person, doing a real comparison between Mac and PC," Long said in the Intel ads, in an obvious play on the "Hello, I'm a Mac" introduction on the old Apple ads.
Through the series of videos, Intel hired Long to star in ads in a similar fashion he starred for Apple's.
But instead of promoting Apple, Long has switched and became a fan of PCs.
In the videos, Long who calls himself a regular user, is seen comparing the capabilities of a PC and a MacBook.
And in all cases, the comparison is not in favor of Apple.
For example, Long said that with Intel-powered laptops, he can connect three monitors simultaneously. But when he uses a MacBook, he can only connect to one monitor at a time. Long also advertised Intel-based mobile PCs to have a variety of designs and colors, while MacBook laptops don't stand a chance.
Long also focuses on how PCs can have touchscreens, and can make use of additional displays, and how the computers can also have face unlocking feature.
In other words, Intel with Long, showcase some of Intel-powered PC's advantages, if compared to Apple. And Intel is doing this using the same exact approach Apple made almost decades ago.
Intel is one of the biggest computer chipsets maker in the world.
But since the advent of Apple M1 and the start of the movement of PCs into using ARM-based chips, Intel needs to bring innovations to win back and keep its clients, and also in its fight with AMD, in order to get users’ preference.
And the Justin Long ads show how aggressive Intel's CEO Pat Gelsinger is, in countering Apple and other competitors as he attempts to return Intel to its former glory.
He is quoted to have said his plans to "deliver better products" for PCs than anything "a lifestyle company in Cupertino" makes. This is a likely reference to Apple, according to reports.
Through the ads that were made to roast Apple, and also other approaches, Intel hopes that its 11th generation Intel processors can put the company back in the fight.
As part of Intel's move, the chipmaker has even created a web page dedicated for this campaign, in which the company tries to convince visitors that a Intel-powered PCs outshine the Apple M1.
In it, Intel claims that Apple's M1 processor doesn't translate into "real-world" use. That when compared to a PC with 11th Generation Intel Core mobile processors, "M1 MacBook features just don't stack up."
"There's no comparison between the Mac and the PC with the Intel Core processor when it comes to design innovation," Intel claims on the page. "PCs can be personalized to fit a user's specific hardware and software needs, so they work how the user likes to work. The bottom line is a PC offers users choice, something users don't get with a Mac."
It should be noted that results in its tests are largely optionated and subjective.
And of course, because it's part of the 'go PC' campaign, it also features Justin Long.
