Apple airs first iPhone 4 commercial – FaceTime
Apple began airing their first iPhone 4 commercial last night, an extract of the FaceTime feature video they debuted at WWDC 2010. The original iPhone 2G focused on features, the internet in your pocket, music on your phone. After the launch of the App Store, iPhone 3G focused on disparate apps for (this and) that for a while, until later on in the iPhone 3GS cycle they shifted slightly into apps for specific use cases. iPhone 4 brings it back around to the beginning but with less blatant techno-wow and more sentimentality. It isn’t about the cool feature, its about real people — a new father, a graduate and her grandparents, a couple using sign-language — making a real, visible, emotional connections.
Apple’s already sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s. Ads like this might move a few more.
Video after the break.
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Rene Ritchie, Editor
Chad Garrett, Writer
Jeremy Sikora, Writer
Leanna Lofte, Writer
Georgia, Writer
Allyson Kazmucha, Writer
Dieter Bohn, Editor in Chief, SPE
Fanboyism aside, they put together a very compelling commercial that emotionally pulls you in, and that’s priceless.
Its so crazy to pay attention to the video and watch to see what hand they hold the phone in and if they are touching the “bottom left” – I know that FaceTime uses wifi and isn’t impacted by the “bottom left” issue, but still interesting to see how the phone is being held, even in an apple commercial. I really like my iphone 4 (upgraded from 3GS) but I have to say the signal thing really has me bummed, have dropped more calls while in my house while use the 4 when compared to using my 3GS. I hope it gets fixed because I don’t like telling people “i just hold it different and then its ok” – i never paid attention to how I held the 3GS (not that it didn’t matter, because I’m sure it did, its just that it never made such an impact, to the best of my knowledge).
Still love the phone, especially the camera and great screen. little worried i might break it
Wow! That’s one powerful commercial. I can’t wait to get my hubby upgraded to an iphone in January.
I didn’t think they’d begin airing commercials until the phone was more readily available. As of now one would certainly be hard-pressed to just walk into an apple store and buy a phone, you must first be put on their email list. Great ad though.
Really not a fan of this commercial. I think it’s the music… I know it’s supposed to be a great song and all i just don’t like it for that commercial seems too cheesy.
Facetime is useless to me because i have maybe 5 friends that have an iphone and none of which that plan on getting the iphone 4. i guess i could call 1800 facetime and waste my time. Do people really have that many friends that are getting the new iphone?
Good thing FaceTime required WiFi — just look at how the phone is nestled into the guy’s palm like that. How can anybody expect reception with such a “death grip”
The power of this ad is the emotional connection it engenders with the device. Even without the commercial, the device is so beautiful and transformative, you no longer care about the flaws. It’s like bringing home a new puppy; you do whatever it takes to make it work. Reception problems, buy a case. No wifi network in your house, call the cable company; it’s time to upgrade. Grandma doesn’t have an iPhone 4, easily remedied. Given the emotional draw this phone already has, the commercial is almost unfair, like subliminal messages in theaters. You will be halfway to the Apple store before you realize what’s happening.
Android will never produce anything with that kind of emotional appeal.
@dandbj13
hahaha oh my god can you say tool?? this is just a commercial. not a freaking love story. your right, android won’t ever have an “emotionally stirring” commercial as this because they dont need to brainwash people to buy their sub-par stuff. the people who buy droids truly see that it is a better phone
I just cried
no way there was wifi available in all those siutation in real life. aside from my house and a few friends houses and starbucks where the heck am i going to be outside and happen to have wifi available. then have to hope the other person is at a wifi spot. if they even have the new iphone. maybe in 8 months friends that actually have the iphone will choose to upgrade, most my friends don’t plan on upgrading till their phones are about to die.
1.7 million in under a week? That’s insane. I’d speculate no single droid unit will sell that many in their lifetime, let alone a week.
obviously everyone in that commercial is carrying a sprint or verizion mifi hotspot with them at all times.
You guys have the wrong video up. Thats the one they use on the Apple site. The TV ad is this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCzzh-nexpg
Good points. I have never experienced wifi in a hospital and i work in hospitals all over the country. I have yet to been convinced this is a better phone than my 3gs. Nothing is compelling to me to sit in line and pay another $300. Factime is a gimmick and i guarantee wont use it for a second. Two people that happen to both have wifi spot and an iphone 4 and actually want to talk to one another….can we say never gonna happen and not compelling enough to buy.
If facetime works like any other voice chat ( any phone, 3g ) and they’ve fixed reception issue, maybe i ll upgrade…. Hmmm iphobe 4G or 4GS ??
Tried tipping every freakin Apple fan site about this ad, letting them know that’s now available incase if anybody is curious, but no. No one listens. I’ve been tipping since sunday, the day it aired. (Around noon to 1 p.m.)
That video was great and captured the emotions of the human spirit. This is another great iPhone4 video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sGv2Zw-WQw
@DustinAe: Wrong, my girlfriend and I have used FaceTime about 20 times already. Almost every phone call. wifi @ work. Just recently took a camping trip too and she stayed home. I have a cradlepoint router with another cell data plan and I gave her a FaceTime tour of the campsite. People do and will use it.
Everyone holds the phone in their left hand that is right handed so they can use their right index finger just shows you that in the commercial. Pissed that I now have to think about how I hold my phone to make a call
@Dave – I want to do the same thing with my girlfriend. Can you tell me what is the other cellphone you have that allows you to access it as a mobile hotspot? Is that phone running AT&T? Verizon? Thanks for the info. Glad to hear FaceTime is working well. I can’t wait to use it.
fake
@nate – may be but thats what sells.
people that know better 5% of the population
95% that don’t and will be moved, will buy into that package designed marketing = general public..
The couple using sign language at the end was the most poignant of the four for me. I hadn’t even imagined the ability to see and use sign language as one of FaceTime’s usages. That could be very beneficial to deaf populations in countries with the iPhone 4.
if you cried to this, you’re a ***
My girlfriend and I call it PornTime
@dustinae You must have no one you care enough about in your life. Girlfriend, kids, etc
@nate
your = belonging to you’re = contraction of = you are
“android won’t ever have an “emotionally stirring” commercial as this because they dont need to brainwash people to buy their sub-par stuff” So you are saying that android stuff is sub-par ?
Way to kill the android stereotype. Nice job.
Wow, marketing at its best! Regardless of what complaints we can say about the recent iPhone 4 launch, the thing is amazing. We want everything to be perfect, and for the true cost of an iPhone it should be near perfect, however, truth be told with such a radical change to the product this was expected.
As weird as it maybe, and illogical, some of the reception issue is software related. Now, I am a 3gs user and I have noticed signal loss from the lower left corner on IOS 4. However, there is an element of physics with the iPhone 4. I am glad I am out of the country till August so I can see how these bad boys run a bit of test of time. I recommend that everyone calm down and put some clear armor and a case of it and I think that should solve it. With the amount of puss the iPhone 4 will bring to your prince, it should be worth the functionality loss. I mean thats why we are mac users, because S.Jobs is a bro-king.
I also loved the little text with iphone 4 and WiFi only
@ Sicilian WTF that has to do w/ iPhone 4????
I am so over the Android invasion of every iPhone thread. Mocking the reception issue on iPhone 4? Guess you never used a Nexus One. Talking up the EVO? Great device except it lasts less than 20 hours on STANDBY and if you use it its a struggle to get to 4 hours (my brother owns one). There are pluses and minuses to both platforms, but zealotry is one they have in common that I am sick to death of. I’ve spent enough time with Android (and am a fan of it, btw) to know where its weaknesses are – inconsistent UI, confusing & sometimes crashy user experience (raise your hand if you think the average user knows or cares what com.google.android.voicesearch has stopped working means?). It is the price that you pay for living in the Wild West that is Android adn I mean that in the good and bad senses. You get cutting edge stuff that doesn’t quite work and has the longterm Google beta tag in a plasticky Superphone package (though I am a fan of HTC/One and Co. for half a decade). For some people that’s where they want to be (and I love to hack every device I own, seriously, ask me about my 1.86ghz Core2Duo e6300 running at 3.2ghz) and for others they don’t mind being a little behind the bleeding edge so that they aren’t, well, bleeding. People who buy the iPhone know what they are buying into: the Walled garden App Store (for good and bad), the premiere mobile browser (oops, Flash!), and a beautifully designed, exquisitely built piece of bling that mostly just works without asking them if it should restart com.google.android.voicesearch every few days. So if you’ve come here to go on and on about Android’s superiority, be sure you have an extra battery and that you don’t set the Incredible down on something that will cause it’s shorting issue to happen.
Why are there so many ANDROID TROLLS? Why? Is Google paying you people? Seriously, every single article that has anything to do with Apple has 500 moron commenters trolling and screaming how wonderful android is. Go play with your phone if you like it so much and stop trolling every Apple article like a jealous ex-girlfriend.
@Sicilian: I use a HTC touch from cellcom with a cradlepoint MBR1000 when I’m on the go. When I have 3G FaceTime works great through the mobile router if it’s on edge it works but you lose frames. But like I said, me and my girl use it all the time, it’s awesome knowing people who have iPhone 4. I wish all my friends would have them. Just imagine if retail stores start having public wifi, your at the store and you see something nice for the house and your significant other is at home. You can FaceTime and ask them what they think. Great product Apple for sure and Android lovers, you can try at rip on my phone all you want but I love it and you won’t change that so stop wasting your time.