Apple surprised us all at the end of October with a “Scarily Fast” event where they announced a new MacBook Pro and iMac with the M3 family of chips. But what seems to have the Internet up in arms is the message “Shot on iPhone, edited on Mac”, but why?
It’s no secret that Apple is incredibly proud of the capabilities of both their current flagship iPhones, so it makes sense that they’d want to prove just how well these devices can perform. At a glance, the message “Shot on an iPhone, edited on Mac” seems like a pretty simple way to show off what they can do, but not everything is what it seems.
Apple followed up their event with a behind-the-scenes video showing that, yes, they did record the event on an iPhone, but not without a little helping hand. As highlighted by The Verge, Apple used an array of equipment from gimbals, lighting, and drones to capture the footage of the announcement which cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Because of this, the internet has been quick to poke fun at Apple with a series of quips and hot takes, but is it truly as bad as it seems, or was this statement aimed at an audience outside of the usual tech enthusiast?
From a marketing perspective, Apple has done a great job of showcasing the capabilities of the iPhone, to a niche audience of videographers and filmmakers, plain and simple. Yes, they also utilised equipment to help with lighting, positioning of the shots, and with navigation on set. At the end of the day though, it was still shot on an iPhone.
Adding to this, Apple also shared that they utilised Blackmagic Camera, a free app on the App Store that adds professional digital film camera controls to the iPhone as well as supporting Apple Log encoding on the iPhone.
While their “Shot on iPhone” message might have seemed like a weird flex, it was a clever way of marketing the iPhone as a potential tool in the arsenal of filmmakers and videographers. To them, the statement was less ‘Shot on iPhone’ and more ‘The camera used was an iPhone’.
This shouldn’t necessarily be seen as marketing toward Apple’s main consumer base but instead marketing towards a more niche audience, an audience that may already have access to the equipment used in their showcase video, and one that may not have necessarily considered the iPhone as a key tool in their arsenal.
Ultimately, it’s fantastic out-of-the-box thinking for Apple, and as a creative agency ourselves, one we can absolutely applaud.
If you’re looking for some out-of-the-box thinking for your next marketing campaign, why not get in touch with us!
