Apple Releases New 'Barbers' iPhone 7 Plus Ad Promoting Portrait Mode

Monday May 15, 2017 12:13 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today shared a new iPhone 7 Plus ad on its YouTube channel, once again promoting the Portrait Mode feature of its flagship device.

The spot takes place in a barbershop, with photos from the iPhone 7 Plus used to advertise the shop's skills. Images captured with the iPhone are added to the storefront, drawing in more and more customers until there's a long line out the door. "In Portrait mode on the iPhone 7 Plus, you don't just look good. You look fantastic," reads the ad's description.

Apple has been heavily promoting the iPhone 7 Plus Portrait Mode feature, which Tim Cook recently said is one of the reasons why the iPhone 7 Plus has been the most popular "Plus" model the company has released yet.

Interest in the iPhone 7 Plus led to constrained supplies for months, with Apple having just reached supply/demand balance early in the second quarter of 2017.

Apple has released several ads focusing on the iPhone 7 Plus and its dual lens camera, including "Take Mine" about a girl in a greek village who captures her town using Portrait Mode, and "The City," featuring two people who document a series of adventures using the iPhone 7 Plus.

Apple also recently shared a new website and a series of tutorial videos that cover how to take better photos using the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus.

Tag: Apple Ads

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Top Rated Comments

iModFrenzy

122 months ago

I love MacRumors but I don't see the point in posting news articles over advertisements? Seems more like a side news article then a front page one, unless I'm missing something

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

macduke

122 months ago

I guess this commercial is lost on me. I thought portrait mode primarily blurred out features in the background, but I'm not seeing the benefit here. Maybe a professional photographer can readily see the difference, but the commercial transitions from the live action to the picture so quickly I can't see where the background blur does anything and the photos are so closely cropped as to make any blur effect minimal anyway.

Don't get me wrong, the pictures are quite good, but this doesn't highlight portrait mode very well.

Professional photographer here. The background blur effect on the iPhone 7 Plus happens in real-time, so you can't really see the effect in the advertisement, as there is nothing to compare it to. To compound the issue, they're using expensive cinema lenses that have wide apertures, blurring the background already of the person and the background around the iPhone before taking the shot. But once you consider that, the effect is quite impressive, because it gives a similar effect to more expensive cameras and lenses, just at a lower resolution and with poorer low-light performance. Also, sometimes, the algorithm messes up. Apple will continue to improve it, and future advancements such as 3D depth sensors should help improve the effect.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Moorepheus

122 months ago

Release all the ads they want, Portrait mode is a gimmick at best. In a well lit room, still get the message that I need more light. The Photos are grainy and half the time it doesn't take the depth of field picture at all.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Zaft

122 months ago

Nice ad, I use portrait mode a lot ,its a nice feature.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

NachoGrande

122 months ago

Oh I though this was a feature that would turn the phone to landscape instead of portrait mode when taking videos. :( one day....

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

chumpy34

122 months ago

As someone who works in the video production and commercial business, I have to say this is one of the best ads I have seen in sometime. Snappy, fun, creative and good product promotion without slamming you over-the-head. Way to go Apple (or ad company Apple hired:)

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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Apple Releases New 'Barbers' iPhone 7 Plus Ad Promoting Portrait Mode

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