Anyone who uses an iPhone cannot be a bad person: According to the statements of director Rian Johnson, Apple seems to want to convey this image in film and television (via The Verge).
The director of The Last Jedi and Knives outsaid in an interview with Vanity Fair:
"I don't know if I should say that or not. Not because it would be lascivious or something, but because it will bite my butt on the next mystery film that I am going to make, but never mind, I will say it "It's pretty interesting. Apple allows you to show their iPhones in movies, but – and that's pretty important if you ever watch a mystery movie – the bad guys aren't allowed to use an iPhone."
Anyone who sees a certain character walking around in an iPhone with an iPhone in their hand can therefore assume that this person is not the bad guy the heroes of the screen are currently looking for.
Companies want to put their own products in a positive light
Apple has long been trying to positively display its own hardware in film and television: Wired published an article back in 2002 that the good guys in the 24 series only use Macs, while the bad guys use Windows PCs for their nasty machinations.
However, the company is not the only one with this strategy, because manufacturers also play a part in game development: for example, licensed cars cannot be completely disassembled in racing games, because this runs counter to the potential advertising effect of displaying a particular model in the game.
