Apple Releases New 'Barbers' iPhone 7 Plus Ad Promoting Portrait Mode

Apple today shared a new iPhone 7 Plus ad on its YouTube channel, once again promoting the Portrait Mode feature of its flagship device.

The spot takes place in a barbershop, with photos from the iPhone 7 Plus used to advertise the shop's skills. Images captured with the iPhone are added to the storefront, drawing in more and more customers until there's a long line out the door. "In Portrait mode on the iPhone 7 Plus, you don't just look good. You look fantastic," reads the ad's description.


Apple has been heavily promoting the iPhone 7 Plus Portrait Mode feature, which Tim Cook recently said is one of the reasons why the iPhone 7 Plus has been the most popular "Plus" model the company has released yet.

Interest in the iPhone 7 Plus led to constrained supplies for months, with Apple having just reached supply/demand balance early in the second quarter of 2017.

Apple has released several ads focusing on the iPhone 7 Plus and its dual lens camera, including "Take Mine" about a girl in a greek village who captures her town using Portrait Mode, and "The City," featuring two people who document a series of adventures using the iPhone 7 Plus.

Apple also recently shared a new website and a series of tutorial videos that cover how to take better photos using the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus.

Top Rated Comments

iModFrenzy Avatar
91 months ago
I love MacRumors but I don't see the point in posting news articles over advertisements? Seems more like a side news article then a front page one, unless I'm missing something
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
91 months ago
I guess this commercial is lost on me. I thought portrait mode primarily blurred out features in the background, but I'm not seeing the benefit here. Maybe a professional photographer can readily see the difference, but the commercial transitions from the live action to the picture so quickly I can't see where the background blur does anything and the photos are so closely cropped as to make any blur effect minimal anyway.

Don't get me wrong, the pictures are quite good, but this doesn't highlight portrait mode very well.
Professional photographer here. The background blur effect on the iPhone 7 Plus happens in real-time, so you can't really see the effect in the advertisement, as there is nothing to compare it to. To compound the issue, they're using expensive cinema lenses that have wide apertures, blurring the background already of the person and the background around the iPhone before taking the shot. But once you consider that, the effect is quite impressive, because it gives a similar effect to more expensive cameras and lenses, just at a lower resolution and with poorer low-light performance. Also, sometimes, the algorithm messes up. Apple will continue to improve it, and future advancements such as 3D depth sensors should help improve the effect.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Moorepheus Avatar
91 months ago
Release all the ads they want, Portrait mode is a gimmick at best. In a well lit room, still get the message that I need more light. The Photos are grainy and half the time it doesn't take the depth of field picture at all.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NachoGrande Avatar
91 months ago
Oh I though this was a feature that would turn the phone to landscape instead of portrait mode when taking videos. :( one day....
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zaft Avatar
91 months ago
Nice ad, I use portrait mode a lot ,its a nice feature.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JohnnyApple$eed Avatar
91 months ago
Every add I see from Apple now I ask myself "Is it worth $1,000.00"? And I kept answering myself with "NOPE"! I really hope the iPhone does something magical like print money.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Delta Feature

Delta Game Emulator Now Available From App Store on iPhone

Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
iOS NES Emulator Bimmy Feature

NES Emulator for iPhone and iPad Now Available on App Store [Removed]

Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Translate

All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:54 am PDT by
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With the New App Store Delta Game Emulator

Wednesday April 17, 2024 12:19 pm PDT by
A decade ago, developer Riley Testut released the GBA4iOS emulator for iOS, and since it was against the rules at the time, Apple put a stop to downloads. Emulators have been a violation of the App Store rules for years, but that changed on April 5 when Apple suddenly reversed course and said that it was allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Friday April 12, 2024 11:11 am PDT by
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...