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Uncovering Every Lie in MKBHD's Softball Interview; a scathing critique of 'brand safe' influencers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0DF-MOkotA

Propaganda interview: https://youtu.be/8reaJG7z-is?t=475Propaganda document: https://support.apple.com/content/dam/edam/applecare/images/en_US/otherassets/pr...

Louis Rossman discuses many design flaws made by Apple over the years throughout their entire catalog.

This video also came out a few days after I praise the Macbook Pro series for being higher quality then their competition as well. 😂 🫣

61 comments

dinckelman

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Quite a shame that the vast majority of people this video is targeted at will just not care. Especially in the US, or the UAE, if your Apple device breaks, you just get another Apple device, because it's a status symbol.

On the topic of Marques though - I haven't watched any of his stuff in quite a while, after I've had an eye-opened moment from his content. He would scald and roast companies that make mistakes, and make bad choices, but when Apple, or lets say Tesla, make the same mistake, he lets them off the hook. That's not unbiased journalism at all.

mightyfoolish

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Probably has to suck-up inorder to get products early so his reviews can be viewed first. I wish all of these reviewers would be honest as Steve Burke (GamersNexus).

dinckelman

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Being honest isn't where the money is. Not reaching out towards that takes willpower, and strong principles

ikidd

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https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectFarm

This guy has 3M subs and doesn't take free samples for reviews. I think he's doing OK, and damn, if you want a detailed comparison of something, he's the guy. He's branched away from the mainly mechanic oriented stuff recently, but still staying unbought.

recursive_recursion

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Thanks Steve

mightyfoolish

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I legit upvoted every Thanks Steve comment right before I posted this thread! 🤣 I love that meme.

recursive_recursion

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ditto😆

Intel really set themselves up for a perfect memefest😂

reddit_sux

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This is true of apple as reviewers critical of them are never invited for their events.

n2burns

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Probably has to suck-up inorder to get products early so his reviews can be viewed first.

No. Apple and most major tech companies are pretty good about giving reviewer samples to anyone with a large enough audience. The only thing that gets you disqualified is breaking the moratorium and releasing your review early.

What conducting softball interviews gets you is more interviews.

stealth_cookies

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major tech companies are pretty good about giving reviewer samples to anyone with a large enough audience

That isn't true, for example LTT doesn't get seeded Apple products anymore because of what they have said about Apple. NVidia has also been caught revoking early access to products to some outlets because they were unhappy about reporting as well.

mightyfoolish

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As @reddit_sux@lemmy.world stated there are more perks than just earlier reviews.

Sometimes a large company will stop assisting you if you go against their talking points. For example Hardware Unboxed got in trouble for saying, raytracing isn't as big of a deal as Nvidia is making it and it will remain that way for at least the next few years. Thanks to influence of several big Youtubers (like Steve Burke and Linus Sebastien), Nvidia changed their minds.

slumberlust

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Are you assuming this simply because apple doesn't state the reason they end a relationship? Access journalism isn't new or unique to apple.

Rakonat

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Not to defend him (can't really stand his videos at all) but he's not a journalist. He's just a freelance spokesman for products that will sponsor him.

Lucidlethargy

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Yes! He's literally done this ever since his first iPhone review. I think it was the iPhone 4s? Somewhere around that time...

viperex

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MKBHD the tech reviewer and Louis Rossmann the tech repairer get the tech at different points in their life cycles. Does anyone expect MKBHD to open up a MacBook and start probing motherboard components? He reviews the form and function of new tech when they're polished and running at their peak. Louis sees them when something has gone wrong

OldWoodFrame

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I think it's clear he's a fan of Apple and Tesla but he does make negative statements about them, the Cyber truck was not a positive review and he always criticized the fit and finish of Teslas. And he critiques Apple's idiosyncracies like the proprietary charger and lack of calculator app on the iPad.

I guess my point is that he's not a journalist he's a reviewer, we are tuning in for his judgement, his opinion. If he personally likes the products from a certain company, that's not a bias that impacts his capacity to do his job well.

Like movie reviewer giving Pixar a bunch of 10/10 reviews, and then criticizing Cars 2 as a mediocre cash grab. Maybe they are biased for Pixar, or maybe Pixar just puts out a lot of good movies. As long as you're calling out the bad moves, that's what we want from a reviewer.

The fair concern is when he gets exclusive access like this, I don't necessarily care about the puff piece interview but you hope it doesn't influence his future reviews.

mctoasterson

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I just take Marques for what he is - normie entertainment tech channel.

All marketing hype associated with Apple is always to be taken with a grain, nay, a shovel of salt.

Linkerbaan

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MKBHD is still responsible for spreading advertorials.

sunzu

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Nahh dawg... He is a grifter and normies larp it up.

No integrity just a marketing. Zero respect for that IMHO

OldWoodFrame

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The last time he was in the wider media discussion was because he negatively reviewed the Fisker Ocean and the Humane Pin and people were calling him a company killer.

sunzu

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He is on apple and Tesla team lol

viperex

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And that makes him a grifter? What makes him "on their team" anyway? Because he reviewed their products favorably? Your argument just lost its footing

sunzu

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If you can't spot bias and simping that's a you problem haha

But here is a circle jerk he did with Tim apple in case you are being genuine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMX2cQdPubk

viperex

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Who do you consider a reviewer with integrity?

sunzu

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Have not been watching them in years. Caught all of them shilling something. I get it, it is their job. But I also lose interest after that.

But PC stuff gamersnexus is what I relied on when I did my purchasing. I am not an expert tbh

the_toast_is_gone

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I lost count of how many specific part numbers of defective Apple products he rattled off with the same design flaw, but that was a stunning display. Just exposed that they know these things are problems and just don't care, because people will keep buying their products.

mightyfoolish

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Reminds me of Pokemon. I skipped out on Scarlet and Violet (9th gen) because I knew it was going to carry the issues 8th gen had. Both generations still sold extremely well. 9th gen didn't review as well 8th gen but the reviews were still carried by nostalgia and not critical enough.

Lucidlethargy

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I like this guy. I don't watch him often, but even 5 minutes in I'm enjoying his thoroughness. We need this in the era of misinformation we're in today.

mightyfoolish

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He is every harsh on manufacturers and OEMs when they do bad things. He gave up on being nice and I fully understand why. We need more regulations in the tech industry, especially around warranty claims.

Fades

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fuck that, you're missing the forest for the trees - we need RIGHT TO REPAIR LEGISLATION.

modeler

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I agree, so much legislation is broken, the legislators aren't doing shit, so we citizens need to fix it!

But we could start with the right to repair.

Fades

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lmao and here I keep hearing about how MKBHD is SOOOOOO unbiased and has a following because he doesn't give easy reviews

mightyfoolish

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His review on those AI gadgets were pretty scathing. Though, the claim here is that he is biased for Apple, not for whoever sends him devices.

phoneymouse

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In another video on what his favorite phone is though, he picks an android. He does use both phones daily though because he likes to stay up to date and enmeshed in both OSes for his job. He prefers android though. If he covers a lot of Apple videos it’s probably just because those attract the most clicks. There is an entire media ecosystem around Apple. Some YouTubers purely post speculation videos about Apple. Many just repost different variations of Apple’s history and the Steve Jobs story.

Linkerbaan

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People critical of Apple get put on the Apple media blacklist.

MKBHD sucks up to Apple so he keeps getting early access to their events because Apple = Views.

sunzu

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The grifter cycle...

Lucidlethargy

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I lost interest in that guy on the left the minute he reviewed one of the iPhone's for the first time, and gave the feature-poor handset this insanely positive review.

He's a shill. He does great videos, but he's a shill.

mightyfoolish

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He does great videos

Mbkhd's studio, talking/narrating skills, editing skills, and skills in explaining tech in simple terms are extremely high quality. He just needs to be more honest about famous companies.

Lucidlethargy

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Yup, I agree. That's a really big "just", though. I'd rather watch a poorly edited video that's honest, than a high end video that glosses over major defects and difficiencies. I mean, let's call it what it is, Marques makes ads.

Linkerbaan

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MKBHD has great editing but he's not tech savy at all.

He has great presentation and videography but when it comes to actual knowledge it's the blind leading the blind.

sugar_in_your_tea

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Idk, I think his tech knowledge is fine. He knows far more about cameras than I ever will (largely because I don't care), and I honestly haven't seen anything where he's lacking on the tech knowledge front. His reviews, when critical, are usually quite comprehensive. For his audience and the products he reviews, he's plenty tech savvy and probably more tech savvy than most of his audience. He just doesn't put that on display unless it's relevant to the video.

His channel is all about "hey, check out this cool tech gadget," and not "let's deep dive into this particular tech niche." Do you want to know how a given EV is to drive? MKBHD got you. Are you trying to decide between EVs? Comparing MKBHD's videos may help narrow it down, but probably isn't sufficient. Do you want a teardown of an EV to repair something? Look elsewhere.

I occasionally watch his videos, but not enough to sub. I like his presentation style and his critical videos are generally pretty insightful.

Linkerbaan

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He knows more than his audience but he doesn't know what he's talking about.

A prime example is when he kept asking for bigger batteries. After those arrived he suddenly realized that the phone becomes very heavy. Because the battery is one of the heaviest and most space using components.

This right to repair greenwashing too. Someone tells MKBHD a nice story and he laps it up. He just has a wishlist of features but there's no technical background to understand the tradeoffs manufacturers are making.

sugar_in_your_tea

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I'm sure he understands them, but at the end of the day, his job is to get views. So he's going to complain when the UX is bad, regardless of the technical motivations, because that's what customers will notice.

Linkerbaan

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No he doesn't understand.

He does have a good eye for design. And he's used a lot of phones so he certainly isn't inexperienced. But he doesn't understand what tradeoffs are made and why.

Such as bigger battery = heavy big phone. Or newer generation chips being more efficient with the same battery capacity. And recycled Aluminum being nothing special, as it's one of the easiest materials to recycle but recycling it does consume a lot of energy.

Or in this case, repairability of the phone.

mightyfoolish

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His channel is mainly reviews. He isn't running a "makers" channel or even one like GamersNexus (explaining things in depth) or LTT (covers broad range of topics and demonstrations).

stealth_cookies

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I had called out the bullshit about devices being less durable if you make them more repairable on MKBHDs video, but of course it got lost in the comments. Apple just refuses to make the compromises that would allow for durable and repairable devices. Not to mention that a repair being difficult shouldn't be used for justification for blocking repair or making it impossible/not worth it to get parts.

Kusimulkku

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Man this guy on speed or something

sugar_in_your_tea

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Nah, just a workaholic IMO.

lepinkainen

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Dude is like 30 and looks 50.

Dunno what he does, but he should stop it

mightyfoolish

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He's tired from fighting for your right to actually own what you buy (as in being able to repair and modify). Which is important in this era of manufactured waste.

themakara

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Probably stress. Running a business + a nonprofit + YouTube is already a lot. And on top of that I think he's recently been diagnosed with being in the spectrum, which is stressful on it's own way as well. I don't think he'll stop though. Dude's been burning himself like that for over a decade, it's probably the only way he knows how to live.

sunzu

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Some people just look like that... It is genetic.

Or he could be over working

Eitherway, Lois is doing lords work and it is clearly resonating. Maybe we can get some positive change.

Prolly not but at least we are not taking without a fight like boomers did.

schizo

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I mean, duh? Influencers only get paid if they do and say what the sponsor paying them wants them to do and say. You can, of course, NOT do that, but you won't get a 2nd check, so the whole job requires you play along with your bosses and do what they want.

There's not a single really trustworthy influencer type out there that takes sponsor money, and you shouldn't trust ANY of them to do anything other than what they have to do so they get paid.

helenslunch

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Influencers only get paid if they do and say what the sponsor paying them wants them to do and say

I mean that is patently untrue. LTT says negative things about Nvidia on a regular basis and they still sponsor him. And Intel. And probably AMD at some point.

Other reviewers like J2C straight-up stop accepting sponsorships from companies like ASUS.

schizo

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I also don't think LTT ever calls anyone out about anything, ever. He's made noises about ethics and sponsorship, but he's never actively gone after a big sponsor, except maybe kinda ASUS and I'd bet that's because everyone else did and he thought it'd be a bad look if he didn't.

You mentioned nVidia, and I'll mention what happened to Hardware Unboxed when they didn't toe the marketing line. Sure, sure, they "apologized" after public outcry, but the point is they absolutely went after someone who didn't stay in line with what they wanted the message to be.

helenslunch

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I also don't think LTT ever calls anyone out about anything, ever.

...what? Have you ever watched the channel? He has entire videos dedicated to calling out a wide variety of OEMs. Apple, Intel, Nvidia, Google, MS, etc. etc.

He calls out more OEMs than any I've seen.

Steve of course is more thorough but LTT will complain all the livelong day.

schizo

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LTT

Fair enough; I haven't watched LTT in a long, long time since his tech clown gimmick just irritates me, but he definitely used to be all over his sponsors, and not in a good way.

pop

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Every youtube reviewer's goal is to be popular enough to be a paid shill. It's money they're after, not your praises.

And Apple marketing invests a lot in their image in internet discussions. There are lot of shills and a lot of sock-puppets that prop them up. Every marketing company does but go to any popular Apple posts on reddit, hackernews, or Twitter, they just have same pattern.

Why this isn't obvious is just idk.

Fades

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Every youtube reviewer’s goal is to be popular enough to be a paid shill. It’s money they’re after, not your praises.

absolutely.

There are lot of shills and a lot of sock-puppets that prop them up.

Prop them up? Occam's razor would imply that it is more-so people following trends than it is apple paying shills to get in the trenches and push lies.

they just have same pattern.

Why this isn’t obvious is just idk.

if it's so obvious, surely you can provide some tangible proof? Like I'm confident apple and every other company does this but the way you framed this take it seems to imply that is the main driver and the majority of positive sentiment is just bots or scripts, which is just absurd.

You think Apple is paying all the kids to clown on non-imessage bubble colors? Or is it more reasonable that there is something closer to a hive-mind in regards to what is trendy and popular/a status symbol?

sugar_in_your_tea

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Exactly. Apple only cares about the bigger fish, like big YouTube reviewers and their own presentation. They let their fanbase take care of the rest.

TORFdot0

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I really don’t think large brands like Apple have that many paid shills. Apple has a large fan base and good marketing. People that like their devices just naturally repeat the marketing line because they don’t really know why they like the devices, Apple marketing just told them that is why it is good. And fanatics will spend mental energy defending them for no good reason

Lemmy and the fediverse have sizable Apple communities and Apple is definitely not paying anyone to shill here

catloaf

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Paying influencers, either in money or gadgets, is part of Apple's advertising. Their whole appeal is their popularity and "affordable luxury".

I'm not expressing this well, but I hope you know what I mean.