The All-New Galaxy S24 Ultra: Unveiling a Tech Marvel to the World, Even to Tim Cook and MKBHD.

MKBHD (Marques Brownlee), a prominent tech YouTuber with 19.4 million subscribers, shared an intriguing story about his encounter with Apple employees during an interview with Tim Cook at Apple Park. In a video titled “Inside Apple Park – Answering Your Questions” on his secondary channel, The Studio, MKBHD revealed that he attempted to use his Galaxy S24 Ultra to take notes and refer to questions during the interview. However, he was unexpectedly asked by Apple employees to put away his phone.

MKBHD described the incident in his video:

“A few months ago, we interviewed Tim Cook. I had to take a lot of notes that day on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, including the questions, which were all written on that device. Even before the shoot started and while people were setting up the lights and cameras, I was sitting there using the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Everything was fine until Tim Cook was about to walk in.”

“An Apple employee (whom I won’t name) came up to me and said:

“- Are you going to have your phone out like that during the interview?”

“- Yes, the questions are in here.”

“- Can you not do that?”

“If it were an iPhone, I think no one would have a problem with it,” MKBHD concluded. After being subtly prompted by the Apple employee, MKBHD switched to using an iPhone, as seen in the official interview video.

Although the specific reason for the Apple employee’s request is unclear, it is possible they were concerned about Apple’s image being associated with a competitor’s product during such a high-profile interview.

MKBHD’s experience suggests that Apple may have a more relaxed attitude towards employees and celebrities using iPhones but may be less tolerant of other brands, especially rivals like Samsung.

MKBHD isn’t the first to consider using a competitor’s device, particularly Samsung, in front of Apple’s senior executives. In May this year, Mrwhosetheboss, another prominent YouTuber with an even larger subscriber count than MKBHD (19.5 million vs. 19.4 million), also publicly “trolled” Apple executives by using the Galaxy S24 Ultra during an interview.

The two Apple executives that Mrwhosetheboss (real name Arun Maini) had the opportunity to speak to were Greg Joswiak and John Ternus, vice presidents of Apple’s marketing and hardware divisions. After the incident, Greg Joswiak could only laugh it off, saying, “Oh, Arun, things are going well.”