Microsoft isn't slowing down its public attacks on Apple products. Fresh from the "an iPad Pro isn't a computer" commercials shown earlier this month, the Windows maker's latest ad boasts about the advantages of the Surface Pro 4 compared to a MacBook Air.
Microsoft proudly highlights the Pro 4's detachable keyboard, stylus, and touchscreen functions, labeling the MacBook as "slower, heavier, and a bit square." The ad concludes that the Air is "less useful, like a hat for your cat."
The previous commercial placed both companies' virtual assistants - Cortana and Siri - up against each other. Apple's AI was insistent that the iPad Pro's keyboard made it a computer, but Cortana questioned the device's lack of full desktop software, power, trackpad, and external ports.
Between 2006 and 2009, Apple was ahead in the commercial wars, thanks to its popular "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" campaign starring John Hodgman and Justin Long. Back then, the PC was portrayed as unintuitive and constantly under attack from viruses, whereas as the Mac was shown as easy to use and "cooler."
Today, things look a bit different. Apple's laptops haven't seen any major design changes in years, while Microsoft's detachable 2-in-1s have got lighter, thinner, and more powerful, to the point where the Surface Book 4 is now many people's preferred choice when it comes to portable productivity.
Don't be surprised to see more Microsoft ads mocking Apple's product range over the coming weeks, especially with the holiday season on its way. Hopefully, they won't contain any more disturbing images of cat-faced men.