New 'Behind the Mac' ad features Kendrick Lamar, Gloria Steinem, Billie Eilish, more

Aired during Apple's "One More Thing" special event on Tuesday, a new "Behind the Mac" ad showcases notable figures who use the platform to create music, television, movies and more.

Like past "Behind the Mac" campaigns, today's spot runs just over a minute in length and features celebrities, musicians, journalists and other content creators who rely on Mac for work.

Set to Raury's "Take Back the Power," the ad transitions between photographs and video clips of Kendrick Lamar, Gloria Steinem, Billie Eilish, RuPaul, Tarana Burke, Spike Lee, Stephen Colbert, Takashi Murakami, and Saul Perlmutter. They are all seen using Mac — typically some ilk of MacBook — as they work on their respective projects.

According to Apple, those who participated in the commercial "honor" SMASH.org, an organization that seeks to build a diverse tech workforce by providing equal access to STEM for students of color.

The series first aired in 2018, with subsequent permutations focusing on celebrity use. A type of customer testimonial, the ads are expertly crafted to show, not tell, Mac's ability to augment, enhance and facilitate the creative process.

10 Comments

Xed 2874 comments · 4 Years

About 4 years ago

LOL I love how that list of names upsets a certain kind of person.

roundaboutnow 752 comments · 13 Years

Lisa Simpson using a "Mapple" computer struck me as a somewhat odd inclusion. I still like it though!

mobird 758 comments · 20 Years

Xed said:

LOL I love how that list of names upsets a certain kind of person.

And this is relevant to the article in what way?

David H Dennis 68 comments · 9 Years

roundaboutnow said:

Lisa Simpson using a "Mapple" computer struck me as a somewhat odd inclusion. I still like it though!

I think that particular Mapple model cost about half Homer’s entire household income for the year, which I suppose makes it a bit poignant.

The Simpson’s episode did get the right idea about the Cube, which never sold.

I considered buying one but noticed the regular Mac Pro was a much better deal.

And Apple is still figuring out what we want and selling it to us, year after year, even without Steve Mobs. The Simpsons episode was very funny and very accurate. And you could tell that despite the bitter satire, at heart they really loved Apple. Funny, that.

22july2013 3725 comments · 11 Years

Lisa's Mapple computer includes four Thunderbolt ports, unlike the new Mac Mini, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air which have only two Thunderbolt ports each.