Apple Releases New Behind-the-Scenes Video for '1.24.14' Mac 30th Anniversary Ad

Following this morning's debut of the "1.24.14" Mac 30th anniversary video filmed exclusively on iPhones and edited on Macs, Apple has also released a new behind-the-scenes video that details how the original ad was made.

"Capturing the essence of the moment and it being truthful as seen through the prism of this device is really rather lovely."

The video depicts the camera equipment used to film the ad, which included several different iPhones attached to special mounts able to rotate in any direction. A narrator explains that individual filming crews were sent to locations around the world to obtain simultaneous footage, with each crew using an iPhone to capture video that was then sent to a receiver in a backpack.

Receivers used by the crew members allowed footage to be sent instantly back to director Jake Scott, son of Ridley Scott, in the U.S., and FaceTime on iPads allowed for seamless communication while filming.

Apple's 1.24.14 video was filmed for the 30th anniversary of the Mac. It was distilled from more than 70 hours of footage captured by camera crews on five continents in 15 different locations, including Seattle, Aspen, Maryland, Brookhaven, Puerto Rico, Botswana, London, Lyon, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Pompeii, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Melbourne.

Along with the original video and the behind-the-scenes look at how it was filmed, Apple has also posted a detailed web page that gives an even more in-depth look at the work that went into the spot.

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
142 months ago
I'm really more interested in a behind the scenes video of the behind the scenes video.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Goftrey Avatar
142 months ago
This ridiculous attention to detail is what sets Apple apart from it's competitors. You wouldn't get Samsung filming their commercial with a dozen S4's now would you?
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
btbeme Avatar
142 months ago
I don't really see the point of this.... blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah runway fashion shoot.

I don't mean to be a downer, the iPhone is fantastic as a camera and getting better each generation, it has opened new possibilities, but I feel this video (the original one) is somewhat deceptive.

The "point" is simple - who would have thought, 30 years ago, that this was even remotely possible?

And, if Apple hadn't done it - who would have?

Unlike the generation of under-20's that can't communicate with the outside world other than through anonymous tweets, I wasn't born with an entitlement to these wondrous creations. Making a phone call meant a stinky, diseased phone booth reeking of urine. Today you can make a call from your wrist phone, just like Dick Tracy did when I was a kid. I don't take that for granted, because half a lifetime ago it was only a dream. I see newborns getting iPods today.

No.... my generation had to dream these up, and then make them come true. Only one company had the foresight, engineering, and derring-do to put these to life rather than simply show them as props on a movie set. And that company is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first device that truly set that creativity free.

These devices have changed the world - perhaps at a magnitude greater than the airplane and automobile did two and three generations ago. These devices bring the world closer together, without needing the massive infrastructure of a highway or an airport. These devices can be anywhere, anytime, capturing or delivering information and sights that would never have been celebrated outside of their own back yard. And now they are in your shirt pocket.

That is amazing. Sorry you can't see it for what it is - a celebration of the wonder.

Who else did this? Nobody. Just Apple. Because if someone else had done it, they would have done it.

Thank you, Apple, and happy anniversary.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pocket3d Avatar
142 months ago
Nice iPhone commercial, so where's the Mac?
I'll pick this comment. So many of these commenters so absolutely did NOT get what the videos are about, and they tried so hard to be negative and cynical to cover up their lack of understanding, and they so succeeded in making fools of themselves over another Apple breakthrough.

Here's the point: Fifteen crews on five continents shot 70 hours of footage on 100 iPhones, many of them taking pictures of people using iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and iMacs in various ingenious ways, the whole worldwide shoot directed in real time from one location in L.A. by Jake Scott—using FaceTime, Apple's own system-wide network—then presumably digitally sent it all in for editing using MacBooks, iPads and iMacs, and then delivered to us fully edited IN TEN MEASLY DAYS.

And the thing is interesting, exciting, beautiful and good, and there was enough behind-the-scenes crew photography to deliver a "making-of" movie at the same time.

This is historic, and it will be picked up and used as a lesson in film schools. It could not have been done two years ago. It will be done over and over again in the future.

It wasn't about the iPhone. It was about the media-aware ecosystem that appeared with the first Mac 30 years ago, which Apple has been working on ever since. The equipment you design and add to the system is the economy that springs up around any genuine technological revolution.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HiRez Avatar
142 months ago
I don't really see the point of this. Yes, we already all know the iPhone camera quality is pretty good -- it has been since the 3GS (in relative terms). But you can't do most of this stuff without very expensive gear -- dollies, Steadicams, cranes, clamps, professional lighting, a crew of assistants, and of course professional editing. This video really exposes the fact that this is not just real people shooting real scenes with iPhones. And it was a similar situation with the Burberry runway fashion shoot.

I don't mean to be a downer, the iPhone is fantastic as a camera and getting better each generation, it has opened new possibilities, but I feel this video (the original one) is somewhat deceptive.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
musika Avatar
142 months ago
Gosh, they're on a roll. Loving it.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)