Apple’s Newest iPhone Ad Still Says Nothing, Is a Little Less Great

The deceptively simple iPhone ad Apple rolled out last month has garnered all sorts of praise. Totally justified!

So you can see why they’d try a new one, using the exact same format, music and spec-less pitch. The only difference is that this time, instead of focusing on the notion that iPhones = cameras, Apple is reminding you that iPhones also = personal stereos.

So why don’t I like this one quite as much as the first?

My gut: Because when you take a picture, you’re probably doing it with the hope of sharing it with someone.

And while Apple makes a point of showing some scenarios where the iPhone brings music to more than one person, it is honest about the primary use case: Just you, your phone and some ear buds, sealed off from the rest of the world.

Honest. But not as much fun.

(Bonus content for hardcore Apple tea-leaf readers: Note that several of the shots in the camera ad showed iPhone owners using Facebook-owned Instagram. In this one, there’s no indication what service or software iPhone users are listening to.)