Canadian PM Justin Trudeau busted using fake Mac with Apple sticker

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited May 2021
A photograph of Canada's Justin Trudeau shows him using a HP Windows laptop, which wouldn't be remarked upon, but it sporting an Apple sticker will be.

It's not Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's MacBook Pro. But then it isn't anyone's MacBook Pro, it's a Windows HP laptop
It's not Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's MacBook Pro. But then it isn't anyone's MacBook Pro, it's a Windows HP laptop


Finally, a genuine use for those logo stickers that Apple keeps on shipping. Apple is the company that wouldn't let Intel put a sticker on its computers, but believes we have a passion for the things.

Maybe some of us do, but there's passion, and there's having an outlet for that passion. Someone has got a sticker from a friend and carefully placed it on a Windows laptop. And, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used it on a virtual meeting.

Whoever placed the sticker got it in the vicinity of where Apple does, if not quite as precise as Apple's placement. Unfortunately, they haven't entirely nailed covering up the Hewlett Packard logo underneath.

And if you want to press for more details about "stickergate," there's another one in shot. Just beneath the keyboard of this HP laptop, there's what is most likely an Intel Inside sticker.

It could be one of those peculiar PC things where there's a sticker on the chassis to tell you the computer's specifications. You know, the ones you already saw on the box, the sales receipt, and when you bought the thing.

But specifications or Intel Inside, this is a PC laptop very poorly masquerading as a Mac. To be fair, Trudeau seems to be enjoying looking like he's a Mac user, and that may also be because of where he's sitting.

In this PR photo showing a Skype meeting, he is facing the laptop screen so we can't see the tell-tale signs of a Windows taskbar there. If only we could look to the right of the shot and see a TV-sized display of that Skype conversation, complete with a live feed of Trudeau from that laptop.

And also complete with the Windows taskbar.

From which we can also see that Trudeau -- or someone -- is a Chrome fan, although they also has Microsoft's Internet Explorer. And we can further see that this was staged - sorry, taken at 7:12 PM on October 22, 2020.

It's fair to say that 2020 was a tough year and we all made do with what technology we could to get our work done. No one can criticize Trudeau for having to get by on a HP Windows laptop, no more than they can criticize the prime minister for using two large hardback books instead of buying a proper stand.

Plus, Canada's Braeden Caley, senior director of communications for the Liberal Party, says it isn't Trudeau's laptop anyway.

Hard-hitting sleuthing!

A team laptop borrowed for a moment in the LPC volunteer hub, for a drop-in to thank volunteers virtually during successful by-elections early last fall.

Some especially keen Apple fans there just brought some real change' to the look of a team's https://t.co/ALxpoHmLuT

-- Braeden Caley (@braedencaley)


Everyone else on his Skype call appears to be at home or in their own place, but Trudeau stopped by "for a moment" to have a Skype meeting.

Caley clearly thinks this is all pretty trivial stuff. It is, compared to the various ethics, lobbying, and worse scandals that have dogged Trudeau's premiership.

Trudeau himself might be thinking this is small potatoes, with an image from over six months ago only now doing the rounds. It is, compared with Canada's current problems with getting the coronavirus vaccine to people.

There are definitely more pressing issues, there are definitely more topical ones. But whether it's really Trudeau or just someone at this volunteer center, someone think an Apple logo looks cooler than a HP one.

It is a little hard to disagree, but even if Intel has rather lost its place as the preeminent processor maker, its machines are still faster than Apple stickers.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    digital_guydigital_guy Posts: 163member
    The taskbar could technically be possible in VMWare, Parallels or Boot Camp. The tapered end at bottom of palm rest isn't as easily explained, though. Logo does appear large & exaggerated.  Also, isn't the older white logo supposed to be illuminated? :|

    Appears to be some non-standard issue connections/ports at top of bottom right side, also.

    Someone might want to check the notebook's dimensions, too. Does Apple even make this size?

    In short, a lot of questions.  :D
    edited May 2021 watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 21
    amar99amar99 Posts: 181member
    Lmao, doubters. So when have you last seen a Mac of ANY model with that many ports on the RIGHT side of the device? Even my 10 year old 17 inch MacBook Pro has all of its ports on the LEFT side.
    edited May 2021 shaminojony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 21
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,141member
    Premiership? That's provincial leadership.

    I'm not sure Prime ministership is a proper phrase. Tenure?

    Pretty amusing how the conservative blogosphere were rabid over this story. Vice on the other hand went out and confirmed that it was a laptop borrowed from a volunteer. You know, actual journalism!

    *They also included a shot of him at his actual desk with his iMac. Also, strange that people here are still trying to analyze the laptop in the picture. It was 100% confirmed yesterday! https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7bng8/busted-justin-trudeau-caught-using-a-fake-apple-macbook
    edited May 2021 williamlondonFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 21
    thedbathedba Posts: 776member
    amar99 said:
    Lmao, doubters. So when have you last seen a Mac of ANY model with that many ports on the RIGHT side of the device? Even my 10 year old 17 inch MacBook Pro has all of its ports on the LEFT side.
    My 2015 15" MBP has (from back to front)  USB Type A, HDMI, SD Card Slot, so 3 ports on the right hand side. 

    On a side note, all three of our officials in Quebec (premier François Legault, health minister Christian Dubé and head of public health Horacio Arruda) all come out on stage sporting their iPad Pros with Magic Keyboard. Pretty sure it's the A12Z model due to the camera bump (two lenses plus Lidar). 
    edited May 2021 jony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 21
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,680member
    Lipstick on a pig. 
    BeatsFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 21
    Windows does have one major advantage over Macs: It's file name search works without having to enable Spotlight on your multi-terabyte hard drive causing it to grind endlessly for months pointlessly attempting to index all the words in your massive binary data files.
    edited May 2021 Oferbikerdudebyronl
  • Reply 7 of 21
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Knockoff MacBooks haha! No originality on the Windows machine side.

    My niece used to put Apple Stickers on the back of her knockoff iPads!

    I once say my dad put an Apple logo on his knockoff iPhone wallpaper until he bought a real one.

    My mom only buys knockoff iPhones because she gets crazy deals like $40 phones. I wish slapping an Apple sticker on them would fix the issue of her having to replace it every 6 months!
    qwerty52
  • Reply 8 of 21
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,483member
    I didn't realize that computer branding is so important. 
  • Reply 9 of 21
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,700member
    mknelson said:
    Premiership? That's provincial leadership.

    I'm not sure Prime ministership is a proper phrase. Tenure?

    Pretty amusing how the conservative blogosphere were rabid over this story. Vice on the other hand went out and confirmed that it was a laptop borrowed from a volunteer. You know, actual journalism!

    *They also included a shot of him at his actual desk with his iMac. Also, strange that people here are still trying to analyze the laptop in the picture. It was 100% confirmed yesterday! https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7bng8/busted-justin-trudeau-caught-using-a-fake-apple-macbook
    Conservative blogosphere? Maybe so. But there is no conservative media network in Canada, so they didn't go rabid, and that's why you didn't mention them. At least Americans have one conservative media network.

    P.S. You cited "vice.com" which used to be Canadian but is now owned by Disney in the US, in fact it has been HQ'd in NY since 2001. Is this your idea of a Canadian blog?

    Even your criticism of the word "premiership" is uninformed. Do you even look up words in the dictionary before you criticize people for misusing words?
  • Reply 10 of 21
    sbdudesbdude Posts: 287member
    What would be the point of doing this? Generally speaking, most would cover up the logos so as not to show bias or an implicit endorsement.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 21
    imagladryimagladry Posts: 106member
    Definitely not a Mac.Check the power cable.  Check out the Intel Inside on the keyboard.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 21
    I am Canadian and I feel unwell when I know someone would try to make another computer try to look like a Mac. Trudeau should just buy a Mac and not use those other computer, but a system that is build well all around from hardware to software to support and beyond. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 21
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,267member
    sbdude said:
    What would be the point of doing this? Generally speaking, most would cover up the logos so as not to show bias or an implicit endorsement.
    When I was a lad I got a whole bunch of Apple stickers from home and from friends, and we covered the logos of the crappy Dell computers in our school’s lab just to annoy the shit out of our Apple hating, Microsoft Certified IT support guy.

    fun times.

    Trudeau wouldn’t be doing that though. He is just another idiot politician leeching of the people like the rest of them. I would also point out that this is just some lame photo shoot that politicians indulge in, and he probably doesn’t even have the damn thing turned on, let alone care who actually owns it or whatever brand it is or is not.
    edited May 2021 baconstang
  • Reply 14 of 21
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    Windows does have one major advantage over Macs: It's file name search works without having to enable Spotlight on your multi-terabyte hard drive causing it to grind endlessly for months pointlessly attempting to index all the words in your massive binary data files.
    Funny you say that. Windows indexes too. Until that’s done, you have to wait for any useful results (unless the basic drive crawling file search is still present somewhere; it’s been a while since I’ve tried). On several Windows machines of mine since XP, the indexing never ran and searches didn’t work at all unless I used the basic file search, hidden (at that time) under stupid UI junk.

    One day, a new install of Windows 10 actually had working searching. It was nice to finally have that again. Sigh.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 15 of 21
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    As for the article...

    WTF. Who cares?
  • Reply 16 of 21
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,700member
    dysamoria said:
    As for the article...

    WTF. Who cares?
    As for your comment... who cares?
    Dogpersonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 21
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,144member
    Give him a break, he needed something that would run Mayonnaise 2.3
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 21
    I am Canadian and I feel unwell when I know someone would try to make another computer try to look like a Mac. Trudeau should just buy a Mac and not use those other computer, but a system that is build well all around from hardware to software to support and beyond. 
    I am suspicious that you purport to be Canadian but have not used the word "eh" in your post. :wink: 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 21
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    dysamoria said:
    As for the article...

    WTF. Who cares?
    Ooh, you rebel you. 
    edited May 2021 watto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 21
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    netrox said:
    I didn't realize that computer branding is so important. 
    It is when you’re branding yourself. 
    qwerty52watto_cobra
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