Yeah, Apple is clever to have their logo on the back, lit up. So when they pay for product placement, the laptop is just sitting on the desk, with the actor using it and facing the camera, with the logo nicely framed on screen.
I've read in the past that Apple does very little product placement (that may have changed) and that the primary reason that Apples are so predominant is that is what they have available on set. This may be more true for photo shoots than TV/Movie production.
I'm not certain, to be honest. I know that 30 Rock includes Apple in the product placement credits at the end. But I've also seen stories that say that Apple doesn't pay for product placement beyond giving the product away for free. And of course none of this is public knowledge, so who knows.
And of course none of this is public knowledge, so who knows.
Part of me really wants this kind of information to be recorded somewhere and made public some number of decades into the future. It would be absolutely fascinating as a student (in the broader sense) of technology and business to read all the confidential agreements, product placements, and back-room deals that facilitated the outcomes of technological history, even if it's after a very long delay.
By any practical measure Apple is indeed paying in that they gift the show with free iPads / iPhones / Computers / etc. Hence why the credits usually say that "promotional considerations" were provided by Apple.
However as others have said, Apple appearances do tend to be much more subtle, insofar as a big Apple logo is subtle.
And the fact is, Apple wouldn't really need to do that. I mean, how often have you seen scenes where the character was clearly using am iMac but the Apple logo was covered by a post-it or something?
In those cases, Apple is clearly not paying to have their merch being used and the show clearly didn't get approval to "officially" use the Apple logo which is why they had to cover it. But, in the end, it is still clear that this thing they use is an iMac.
You don't need approval to show a logo on a prop. The reason the post-it is there is to provide an incentive to the company to sponsor them. No money, no logo.
Apple (claims to) never pay for product placement. At this point their brand is so valuable that TV show producers put their products in when they want a certain feel.
Most of the time they cover their logo (because who doesn't keep stickers in the dead-middle of their laptop's screen), but there aren't a lot of manufacturers using aluminum for their machines, or have the iMac's back shape.
