When Apple Shines a Spotlight on Parkinson’s: My Deep Dive

When Apple Shines a Spotlight on Parkinson’s: My Deep Dive

First reaction? Not a bad little film. Good message at the end. But then—boom—Apple's logo pops up. My gut response was: how dare Apple use Parkinson’s as a way to sell their product? And all they really showed was the stereotype that we shake. That felt frustrating.

So, I decided to test my reaction against my family’s. I asked what they thought. To my surprise, they didn’t find it that bad. They pointed out that Apple only shows their logo at the very end. They liked that the film featured a mix of young and old, men and women. And they mentioned something they hadn’t thought of: how hard it would be to push that tiny camera button if you have tremers you couldn’t use voice activation. They felt the ad actually did a decent job of showing how technology can help.

And they were right about something else too—you can’t show everything about Parkinson’s in five minutes. Maybe any publicity is good publicity. Maybe Apple is helping get the word out.

Then my curiosity got the better of me, and I dug a little deeper. Turns out, this is actually Apple’s second Parkinson’s film. This one is hard to find. I also found one called Heartstrings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvnJhwIwqds, which focused on hearing loss. That one hit me differently. It felt more positive, like they were actively promoting the iPhone as a quality hearing aid. Honestly, I even considered switching to Apple last time I replaced my hearing aids because I’d heard about how good the integration was.

So maybe the difference is this: hearing loss feels like something technology can fix or improve. Parkinson’s, on the other hand, is a life-altering disease. It’s not something you “fix” with a software update.

My search turned up more Apple films on general disabilities too https://vimeo.com/776811579. Watching them reminded me of something I’d seen recently about how disability has driven innovation. Think about it: typewriters, curb cuts, electric toothbrushes, and the unsung hero of every milkshake—bendy straws. All created because someone needed a workaround. And now we all benefit.

Finally, I stumbled across the fact that the film maker in this video is Brett Harvey who produced The Hand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXyL08Vw5m0 one of my favorite short films about Parkinson’s. The article I found mentioned he’s going to start producing again.

So, where do I land after this little deep dive? I still wish Parkinson’s weren’t reduced to shaking on screen. But I also recognize that Apple, in its own way, is opening a door. They’re sparking conversations, even in my own family. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.