Latest iPhone 15 ad promotes the glass that Apple calls the toughest on any smartphone

Apple Australia released a new television commercial on YouTube last week to promote the iPhone 15 and the Ceramic Shield. The latter is made by Corning and is used by Apple instead of Gorilla Glass (also made by Corning) to protect an iPhone's display. Made with ceramic nano-crystals, the Ceramic Shield was introduced with the iPhone 12 series in 2020 and has been used on every subsequent model since then except for the iPhone SE 3. 

Apple claims that the Ceramic Shield is tougher than any other smartphone glass and can withstand drops of 6 feet and over. The ad is titled "iPhone 15 Ceramic Shield/Swoop" and it starts with an overhead shot of someone pedaling their bicycle on a trail. As we zoom in on the gal pedaling the bike, we realize that we are seeing this scene from the point of view of a bird. 

The bird "attacks" the bike rider's helmet a couple of times while the bike rider's iPhone 15 is attached to the handlebar. The phone has the Apple Maps app open to navigate the journey. Apple Maps says "Continue straight on. You're still on the fastest route." If you detect a bit of an accent from the Apple Maps voice, may we remind you that this ad is from Apple Australia.

We don't know what motive the bird had for continuing to attack the rider; perhaps it was trained by one of Apple's smartphone rivals to attack iPhone users. But the next attack knocks the bicycle rider off balance and she tumbles onto the dirt path with her iPhone in tow. The combination of slow motion footage with close-ups is supposed to show us how much dirt is being ground into the display while rocks are rubbing against the handset's screen which is protected by the Ceramic Shield.

The woman, now stretched out on the ground, reaches for her iPhone 15 while the ad shows the words, "Ceramic Shield. Tougher than any smartphone glass. Relax, it's iPhone." While lying on the ground, the shaken bike rider looks at the display on her iPhone and smiles as the screen is probably unscathed. But she hears that bird again which scares her into action. She scrambles to regain her footing and with her iPhone in hand, she books.

The ad runs 30 seconds and we're not sure whether a version for the States will be released. You might recall that Apple recently released a new 30-second television ad to tout, once again, the long battery life on the iPhone 15 Plus.