Winners & losers: Apple's new eight-minute ad takes a thinly veiled jab at last year's CrowdStrike meltdown – the software update that crashed Windows systems running critical infrastructure around the world. Beyond the humor, the short film highlights the differences between how Windows and macOS secure their kernels, which was the root cause behind last year's incident.
Last year's infamous CrowdStrike incident was a stark reminder of how fragile Windows systems can be when something goes wrong at the kernel level. The global outage crippled hospitals, airports, and broadcasters – a failure that macOS and Linux users largely watched from the sidelines. Now, 15 months later, Apple is turning that moment into a pointed lesson about platform security.
The ad opens with a packaging company using various Apple tools, including the Apple Watch, AirDrop, NameDrop, Siri, and iPhone mirroring. When the employees encounter a rival company implied to be using Windows devices at a convention, a mass BSOD crash knocks every system at the event offline – except the Apple devices.
An IT technician then explains that the Macs avoided the problem because they manage security without granting kernel-level access to third-party software.
I set my wallpaper to this so I didn't feel like I was missing out. pic.twitter.com/rEyM9tzwEP
– Loftwah (@loftwah) July 19, 2024
Although the ad doesn't specifically name Microsoft, Windows, or CrowdStrike, it clearly references the disaster from last July. The incident affected hospitals, airports, train stations, broadcast stations, and other vital infrastructure.
Many Mac and Linux users joked that their devices stayed online because the issue only affected Windows. The outage occurred after CrowdStrike deployed a defective rapid response content update to its Falcon sensor on Windows systems. The faulty configuration triggered a logic error that caused affected machines to crash and BSOD. Because macOS and most Linux distributions handle updates differently – and restrict third-party software from directly interacting with critical system components – their systems were unaffected.
Microsoft has long faced scrutiny for exposing the deepest layer of its operating system to third-party developers. However, the company has noted that a 2009 agreement with the European Union compels it to do so. Since then, Microsoft has revised how security contractors interact with the Windows kernel to prevent a repeat of the infamous incident.
Recalling Apple's "Get a Mac" campaign, which mocked Windows as unstable and insecure between 2006 and 2009, this week's new short film feels like a modern revival of that rivalry.
Rather than advertising a specific product, the ad underscores Apple's broader security philosophy, emphasizing its use of end-to-end encryption, custom Arm-based silicon with built-in security features, a tightly controlled kernel, and the option to limit software installation to the official App Store.
Apple's latest ad pokes fun at the Windows CrowdStrike BSOD disaster
