It’s no secret that the relationship between Apple and Meta is strained, with the two companies routinely criticizing one another. Even Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg have taken jabs at each other in public and in private. Despite Zuckerberg’s hatred of Apple, however, it seems that even he can’t resist using a MacBook.
But Meta doesn’t want you to know that …
In a post on Facebook this week, Zuckerberg shared an image of himself surrounded by McDonald’s food, apparently as his way of “celebrating McDonald’s joining Workplace.” Workplace, for those not a member of the Facebook world, is the company’s “all-in-one business communication platform.” Who knew.
Even more bizarre than the image of Zuckerberg licking his lips surrounded by McDonald’s food, is the MacBook sitting in front of him. You’ll notice that the MacBook is conspicuously missing something: the shiny Apple logo on the lid. No, Zuckerberg doesn’t have some one-off MacBook without an Apple logo.
Meta’s failed Photoshop on Zuckerberg’s Mac
Instead, what appears to have happened here is Meta PR Photoshopped Zuckerberg’s laptop to remove the Apple logo. It’s still very clearly a MacBook, but Meta PR (or Zuckerberg himself even) couldn’t dare to post an image showing an Apple logo.
This sounds weird, and it is, but it makes sense when you remember that Zuckerberg reportedly ordered all Facebook executives to use Android phones after Tim Cook criticized the company’s handling of user data. Facebook denied this report with a PR spin saying it “encourages” the use of Android phones, but does not prohibit executives from using iPhones.
(Zuckerberg himself apparently uses an Android phone of some sort from Samsung, calling himself a “big fan” of the company.”)
The comment from Tim Cook that allegedly ruffled Zuckerberg’s feathers came in private. The two apparently had a meeting in 2019, during which Zuckerberg asked Cook how he would “handle the fallout” from the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Cook’s response was that the company should “delete any information that it had collected about people outside of its core apps.” This notion was apparently so appalling to Zuckerberg that it set him on a warpath against Apple and Tim Cook.
Zuckerberg has since accused Apple of having a “stranglehold” on the iPhone, charging “monopoly rents” on the App Store, having an “incentive” to interfere with Facebook, and much more. Zuckerberg apparently even told his staff to “inflict pain” on Apple at one point.
For his part, Tim Cook has condemned Facebook’s business model, saying the company prioritizes engagement over privacy, leading to “polarization and violence.” When asked in an interview how he would respond to a Cambridge Analytica-style scandal, Cook doubled down and said: “I wouldn’t be in this situation.”
An unrelated side-note here: Zuckerberg puts tape over the webcam and microphone of his MacBook. The CEO of Facebook, the company with no regard for user privacy, is worried about Apple spying on him through his Mac’s webcam and microphone. And he still uses a MacBook today!
Caption Contest
Think it’s an Apple Silicon Mac? Maybe an Intel one? Let us know down in the comments. Let’s do a little “Caption Contest” fun. The McDonald’s surrounding Zuckerberg makes it all the better. Top-voted comment can have a 9to5Mac sticker.
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