The Apple-Microsoft rivalry has reappeared.

Microsoft has recently begun airing advertisements comparing its Surface hybrid tablet and laptops to the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro.

Apple - Microsoft

Actor John Hodgman appeared in a nerdy, ill-fitting suit in front of a white background at a virtual product launch for Apple's Mac reboot in November. “Stop, hold on, one more thing, hi, I'm a PC,” he said, referring to the famous Mac vs. PC television advertisements from a decade earlier, which subtly telegraphed the impression that Apple was cool and Microsoft wasn't.

The event was held to inform Mac fans that the new machines would be having a faster processor. The subtext, however, was clear: Apple Inc.'s old rivalry with Microsoft Corp. had resurfaced.

The two companies had found a reason to work together for many years. Microsoft Office and other applications started showing up on the iPad and iPhone, and Apple also invited Microsoft to a product launch. Microsoft made its products compatible with new Apple features like the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard, although Apple made it easier to use Xbox game controllers on Apple devices. Apple also put its TV app on the Xbox last fall.

However, around the time the PC character reappeared, Microsoft started complaining to regulators about Apple's App Store, claiming it was anti-competitive. Epic Games Inc. was suing Apple for removing its Fornite game from the App Store, accusing the iPhone manufacturer of monopolistic conduct. Since then, a Microsoft executive has testified against Apple in the trial, which is now in its second week, telling the court that Apple's tight regulation of its App Store has harmed Microsoft's own gaming efforts.

The conflicts are unlikely to dissipate until a decision is reached since Apple and Microsoft are both vying for supremacy in the next major areas of technology, from artificial intelligence and cloud computing to gaming, smartphones, custom processors, and mixed-reality headsets.

Apple's and Microsoft's rekindled rivalry began around a year ago. Microsoft also developed xCloud, a cloud gaming service for iPhones and iPads. Users will pay a monthly fee to Microsoft and be able to access hundreds of different gaming titles from the cloud from one app. The service was expected to do for gaming what Netflix did for video, satisfy gamers, and turn Apple devices into a more efficient gaming platform, backed by Xbox, one of the industry's hottest brands.

However, after failing to convince Apple to loosen App Store rules prohibiting all-in-one gaming services, Microsoft never released the service in its intended form. Microsoft was initially prohibited from releasing any cloud-based games. However, Apple changed the rules a few months after the public outcry about the streaming app ban. Microsoft will now offer a cloud gaming service, but each game would have to be downloaded separately, undermining the intention of a one-stop-shop. Microsoft is now bringing the service to Apple devices through the site, which is a much less ideal experience than a native app.

Around the same time, Microsoft President Brad Smith started urging antitrust authorities in the United States and Europe to investigate Apple's activities. Smith told a Politico writer, "They enforce conditions that increasingly suggest there is only one way to get on to our platform, and that is to go through the gate that we ourselves have built." He went on to say that Apple's behavior was worse than those that put his company in antitrust trouble more than two decades earlier.

When the Epic trial began, what may have been a minor squabble exploded into a major squabble. Lori Wright, Microsoft's vice president of Xbox business growth, testified that Apple's laws are impeding Microsoft's ability to innovate in the gaming industry, confirming Epic's allegations that Apple is an antitrust violator.

Apple stated that Microsoft's Xbox download store follows Apple's guidelines, taking a 30% cut, requiring its own payment system, and prohibiting the use of alternative digital marketplaces. Apple also said that if the App Store is required to be redesigned, Microsoft, as an iOS developer, would benefit.

In an email, Microsoft spokesman Frank X. Shaw said, "We strongly disagreed with Apple's reluctance to allow game streaming through the App Store." “However, we will continue to collaborate with Apple on other subjects, as we do with Microsoft 365 on iOS and Mac devices,” says the company.

Perhaps, but there is the possibility of other conflicts. According to International Data Corporation, Mac sales more than doubled in the first quarter, more than twice as fast as sales of PCs, which mostly run on Microsoft's Windows operating system. Even though Apple only has 8% of the computer market, its updates are common among the millions of Americans who are expected to continue working from home once the epidemic has passed. Apple is also preparing to introduce a mixed-reality headset next year, entering territories that Microsoft carved out with the Hololens years earlier. Microsoft has looked into designing chips for its line of smartphones, emulating Apple's successful approach. In addition to talent, the two firms are vying for positions in AI and cloud computing, two main potential battlegrounds. Microsoft has also returned to producing its own phones, which, of course, run on Google's Android operating system, which is an Apple competitor.

What might possibly go wrong with the animus? If the history is any indication, things are looking bleak. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs famously compared the release of iTunes on Windows to handing a glass of ice water to someone in hell, and the company often mocked Microsoft software and accused the company of copying Apple's designs.

Microsoft has recently begun airing advertisements comparing its Surface hybrid tablet and laptops to the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro. Hodgman, who portrays PC in Apple commercials, maybe getting a call from his agent.