Apple Posts New iPad Pro Ad, Offers Five Reasons iPad Pro Can Be Your Next Computer

For years, fans and detractors alike have been talking about the iPad in terms of it being a real computer. Enthusiasts suggest it is. While detractors insist it isn’t. Now, Apple has entered the fray to make their position more clear. Not only is the iPad Pro a computer, but it is also a good candidate for being your next computer.

Apple has made the ad available on their YouTube channel and will presumably air it on TV as well.

AppleInsider’s take is, “New iPad Pro ad hammers home Apple’s ongoing laptop replacement theme.” The Verge notes that “Apple really wants you to think the iPad Pro is a computer.” Jason Snell from Six Colors threads the needle by declaring the iPad “a computer, not a PC.”

Apple’s new messaging is more aggressive than we have seen from them with regard to the iPad Pro, a product in desperate need of definition. Here is how Apple is defining it:

1. It’s more powerful than most computers – Apple has made a point of emphasizing that the iPad’s hardware outperforms the vast majority of laptops. What they don’t say that reviewers do is that it even outperforms most of their own laptops. No one questions the hardware performance.
2. It’s a scanner, camera, notepad, cinema – While it is true that the iPad Pro can serve many functions, it does not boast functionality that the basic $300 iPad does not have.
3. It goes anywhere – This is an interesting claim as the 12.9″ iPad Pro does not fit any better on an airplane seat tray than a 13″ laptop. That said, it is just as mobile as Apple’s thin and lights. The iPad does have the advantage of having an LTE option where most laptops do not.
4. It’s as easy as this – Basic tasks on the iPad are indeed easy. But more advanced tasks can be much harder to do on the iPad than a traditional PC.
5. It’s even better with Apple Pencil – There are no negative reviews of the Apple Pencil. It is best in class. But most people are not graphic artists. People outside that demographic often complain that they can find little use for it.

Apple may be attempting to respond to the nearly universal conclusions from professional reviewers. The iPad hardware is the most capable out of anything in its class if there even is anything in its class. But the software and OS hold the platform back, making it difficult to recommend as a tool someone can use to replace their professional workflow, even graphic artists.

It was reported earlier in the year that Apple held back many iPad OS improvements that would have made the iPad more of a full computer and less a larger version of the iPhone. According to the rumor mill, those features will be announced at 2019 WWDC.