[andrewla]

I think a lot of product placement comes down to more extortion than permission. The production wants Apple to pony up some money or free stuff in exchange for having their product promoted -- "promotional consideration". In the case where you are shaking down Apple for money, they probably demand certain assurances in return.

You could just use Apple devices and pay for them, and then Apple would have no say.

My theory, too, is easily falsifiable -- check whether the movies you linked have "promotional consideration provided by" lists that include Apple.

[reaperducer]

When I worked in television, the news anchors had Dell laptops on the anchor desk because Dell gave them to the station for free for that purpose. It was a way for the station to save money, and Dell was happy for the exposure.

99% of the people in the station, including the talent, had no idea. They assumed it was an IT department decision. I'm not sure where the idea came from, but it was told to me by the #2 person in the station.

[paulie_a]

Why would you have to pay apple to use them in a movie?

[shkkmo]

You would pay to purchase the Apple products, and then you would be able to use them however you wanted in your movie.

The idea is that most producers want to get paid for using the products in the movie, or want to at least get free products.

[voxic11]

In order to use them in a movie you have to pay for them. iPhones are not free. However you could buy them secondhand to avoid paying Apple directly.