Intel Snipes at Apple in New 'Go PC' Ads

Intel
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Do you remember the Mac vs PC commercials from the mid-2000s? While Microsoft and Apple may have become increasingly buddy-buddy since then, with Windows working on Mac and Mac ceding basic productivity app dominance to Microsoft Office, that doesn’t mean the war between Mac and PC isn’t still raging. The fighters are just different.

Intel's new ad campaign is taking aim at Apple by promoting PC heavily, a continuation of the company’s recent claims that Intel performs better than Apple’s own M1 chip. While Intel has historically been happy to provide Apple chips in the past, Apple’s decision to move to its own, Arm-based chips seems to have changed Intel’s tune about the company’s entire product lineup.

Intel’s attack campaign has been running on Twitter and across various websites since early February under #GoPC, and makes such biting remarks as “If you can power a rocket launch and launch Rocket League, you’re not on a Mac.” Rocket League was delisted for Mac early last year.
 

Of course, Mac’s substandard gaming ecosystem has been known pretty much since the first Macintosh, and that hasn’t stopped Intel from supporting Apple before. Perhaps more harsh is Intel’s snipe at Apple’s refusal to put a touchscreen on its Macbooks, an oft-requested feature that’s become commonplace on similar PC laptops.

You could read this as Intel standing behind its new mobile-first Evo certification program, which doesn’t require a touchscreen but is built on mobile-first convenience features that touchscreen laptops frequently pass. By comparison, Intel claims that Macs do not.

Not everyone’s sold on Evo, though, as tests like “Switching to Calendar in Outlook” are pretty specific and generally not taxing for most systems. And again, Intel happily supplies chips to PCs that don’t pass Evo spec as well.

Intel's also commissioned video for the Go PC campaign, including Tech reviewer Jon Rettinger, whose Intel-sponsored video points out that PC laptops have standard USB ports, touchscreens, and eGPU support, and can easily run with multiple external displays.

Of course, Mac fans are having their own fun with this campaign, including this series of rebuttal images from graphic designer Alex.

And, of course, a reference to the KFConsole that pokes fun at the heat generated by Intel CPUs.

The PC and Mac war is unlikely to come to an end in our time (I’m a proud dual-citizen), although it’s an interesting look at the marketplace to see a formerly neutral party take a side. With Apple moving to its own silicon, Intel is now synonymous with PC.

Michelle Ehrhardt

Michelle Ehrhardt is an editor at Tom's Hardware. She's been following tech since her family got a Gateway running Windows 95, and is now on her third custom-built system. Her work has been published in publications like Paste, The Atlantic, and Kill Screen, just to name a few. She also holds a master's degree in game design from NYU.

  • JayNor
    eGPU, touchscreen, multiple monitors aren't available on M1? Why not? Is there some limitation of the M1 processor that prevents these?
    Reply
  • mrv_co
    As a fellow dual citizen, I see these and all I can think is "It's the operating system stupid". That being said, I am looking forward to the new Mac designs based on AS that are not compromised by Intel design limitations.
    Reply
  • TimmyP777
    This is GOOD. ALL marketing sites have been homegnizing PC and Mac... When they are mutually exclusive things (stop before you argue and think, you cant call Macs PCs, and it is exemplified by looking at it vice versa). Good to see Intel (*design limitations lol, M1 is RisC we will be counting things it CAN do, vs cant compared to a pc forever) taking this stance already!

    All we have to do is establish that PC and Mac are not the same, and we will see Apple fade away even more.
    Reply
  • TimmyP777
    JayNor said:
    eGPU, touchscreen, multiple monitors aren't available on M1? Why not? Is there some limitation of the M1 processor that prevents these?

    The m1 will prove to be a very limited processor, sans the Mac world which will have custom tailored software for it. The processor and its "speed" literally mean nothing to 95 percent of the world, and never will.

    *and its APPLE preventing those features. They are behind a paywall that hasnt been shown yet, mark my words. Bookmark this page and call me out if it doesnt cost extra money for those functions.
    Reply
  • watzupken
    Despite all these marketing, I really don't think they are doing any damage to Apple. A lot of people are buying Apple products because the brand itself is the attraction. It is probably true that the M1 chip is not as good as an Intel Tiger Lake for example, but its not that bad either when you consider not many people will be using it for processor intensive purpose.
    Reply
  • jkflipflop98
    The thing I hate about apple is their push to capture the minds of children by heavily discounting macs to schools.

    "How could you not like a tech company practically giving away PCs to schoolchildren?! You monster!"

    The part that sucks is when these kids grow up using Macs all through school and then come out into the real world where 99% of everything runs on Windows and they're just helplessly lost. Its been getting worse in the last 5 years or so. We have pretty nice laptops assigned to everyone and they do the job quite well. Usually it's a point of pride when a kid fresh out of school gets their shiny new badge and laptop. Usually there's a moment of "holy crap! I'm really an engineer now!" that goes on.

    Lately I've been met with "ewww, can I get a Mac one instead?" or when handing them their new company provided galaxy phone "how do you work this?? I use an iPhone". If it were up to me, I would fire them on the spot. Rules rules rules.
    Reply
  • ¯\(ツ)/¯. I can understand them wanting Apple phones and Macs. There is a reason that they love them and that is because their ecosystem is kept nice and clean by Apple so everything works together and they don’t have compatibility issues and stupid hardware issues in all kinds of things. Frankly I am surprise more businesses don’t standardize on Apple products

    I love my iPhones and I won’t have anything less I can’t be bothered with stuff that doesn’t work in the field. You seem to be like my brother, he hates Apple because they are successful.

    PCs and Android phones are like living in The Wild West. Anything goes
    Reply
  • mitch074
    Mandark said:
    ¯\(ツ)/¯. I can understand them wanting Apple phones and Macs. There is a reason that they love them and that is because their ecosystem is kept nice and clean by Apple so everything works together and they don’t have compatibility issues and stupid hardware issues in all kinds of things. Frankly I am surprise more businesses don’t standardize on Apple products

    I love my iPhones and I won’t have anything less I can’t be bothered with stuff that doesn’t work in the field. You seem to be like my brother, he hates Apple because they are successful.

    PCs and Android phones are like living in The Wild West. Anything goes
    Apple is very nice for people who will gladly pay extra for a toaster with a single knob.
    Yeah,if you read it twice you might get my actual meaning.
    People who can't learn the way a computer works or who will pay a lot for a nice looking smartphone that they will use like a glorified flip phone are Apple's bread and butter.
    I'll do actual work without paying a premium for paywall-blocked features on a Xiaomi phone and a Linux laptop meanwhile.
    Reply
  • Maybe you should stop judging others because none of what you said is true. My iPhone is a handheld computer and does lots of useful work things so I have no idea what you’re talking about you just hate Apple because they’re successful and you wish you could fire everybody that doesn’t like PCs I get it

    I can remote into any box at work and do actual real work from my phone
    Reply
  • Glock24
    I don't know what's with the touchscreen fetish. At least I don't want any touchscreen on my laptop. Got smartphones it's ok.
    Reply