With Anti-Apple Ads, Things Don't Really Change

Apple’s “I’m a Mac” guy returns to promote Windows on Arm PCs

Justin Long is back and switching to Windows on Arm.

The Verge

Well, you just knew this was coming. Because why make a new joke when you can make a bad copy of a joke, which itself was a bad copy of a joke:

Apple’s former “I’m a Mac” actor Justin Long defected to Intel a few years ago, and now he’s looking to switch to a Qualcomm-powered Windows PC. During Qualcomm’s Computex 2024 keynote today, Long appeared in a brief 30-second skit where he was bombarded by macOS notifications and nag screens causing him to start searching for a Snapdragon-powered PC instead.

I mean, are too many notifications annoying? Sure. Are they more annoying on Mac than a PC? Maybe, it probably depends which you use more, I imagine. Are they more annoying on an Apple Silicon Mac than a Qualcomm Snapdragon PC? No one knows yet because no one outside of those companies has actually used one. I suppose what Qualcomm is going for here is that Copilot+ PCs – a marketer's dream of a name – are nebulously powered by AI,¹ therefore they can stop notifications in their tracks. Or something.²

It really just feels like more of a non sequitur then a joke. I'm annoyed by notifications therefore I'm going to buy a new computer? Very relatable to the common person.

“Things change,” jokes Long to camera, after searching for a Windows on Arm PC following the pop-up notifications in macOS. The pop-ups include warnings about app compatibility, low disk space, battery, and more.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon unveiled the skit during the closing stages of the company’s “the PC reborn” keynote today. He returned to the stage to wrap up the keynote by agreeing that “yes, things change. Things do change.”

Oh damn, someone go check on Apple. Not sure they're going to recover from that zinger. "Things do change." Booyah! It's probably the worst zinger since: "Oh yeah, Intel. Nice." But seriously, can someone make sure Justin Long is okay? Poor guy clearly takes every commercial gig. AMD, you're on the clock!

I'm annoyed I had to write this post. I'm going to buy a gorilla.

¹ Though he's not even searching for "Copilot+ PCs" but instead the even less likely to be searched "where can i find a snapdragon powered pc?"

² Oddly, yet perfectly, notification summaries are rumored to be one of the new AI features Apple is likely to unveil at WWDC.