Intel has been on a relentless marketing drive against Mac computers in recent weeks, positioning them as inferior to Windows laptops powered by Intel processors. In a slight slip-up, however, Intel has accidentally used a MacBook instead of a Windows laptop in one of its newest ads to promote one of its new 11th-generation chips as "the world's best processor."
The ad appeared on Reddit and was shared on Twitter by @juneforceone, and it features a man using what clearly seems to be a MacBook Pro. The ad's tagline says, "The world's best processor on a thin and light laptop," and is meant to promote the Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor.
The image Intel uses in the ad is actually a stock image offered by Getty Images, which clearly shows the laptop is indeed a MacBook Pro with an accompanying Magic Mouse.
Apple continues to sell Mac computers with Intel chips, despite its ongoing transition to its own Apple silicon. But while Apple still sells Intel-based Macs, the chip referenced in the ad is not used in any Mac, and in fact, it was launched around the same time Apple released its M1 Apple silicon chip late last year.
One of Intel's most notable marketing campaigns was launched last month and features former "I'm a Mac" actor Justin Long in a series of videos comparing a MacBook Pro powered with M1 to a variety of Windows laptops. Even as the two companies go head to head, newly appointed Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger says he hopes that his company will make Apple silicon chips in the future and have Apple as a normal client.
