Apple Depicts iPad as Laptop, Textbook, and Paperwork Replacement in Series of New Ads

Apple today shared four new 15-second ads highlighting the portability of the iPad for education and travel.

The ads, titled Travel Simply, Organized Notes, Paperless Paperwork, and All Your Stuff, depict the iPad as a space-saving replacement for textbooks in the classroom, paperwork in the office, and a laptop during a flight.





Many of the comparisons are exaggerated — for example, the baby on the plane suddenly stops crying when the camera pans over the passenger using an iPad — but the ads convey a clear message about the iPad's versatility.

Two of the ads show the iPad Pro, and two show the sixth-generation iPad, introduced at Apple's education event last March. The latter is priced from $329 in the United States, serving as a lower-cost alternative to the iPad Pro.


Apple initially uploaded the ads to its YouTube channels in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, and later in the United States.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Caution)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple's CarPlay Ultra to Expand to These Vehicle Brands Later This Year

Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. In his Powe...
Apple Logo Black

Apple Just Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever After Beats

Thursday January 29, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio. Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014. Q.ai has...
Apple Logo Black

Apple's Next Launch is 'Imminent'

Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models. "All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

Apple Changes How You Order a Mac

Saturday January 31, 2026 10:51 am PST by
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pros Reportedly Launching Alongside macOS 26.3

Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...

Top Rated Comments

_Refurbished_ Avatar
99 months ago
An iPad will never be a laptop replacement without mouse support. An iPad is a superior product in many ways than a laptop, but for specific situations, a mouse is needed in order to truly replace the laptop.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PBG4 Dude Avatar
99 months ago
So the iPad can back up iPhones and other devices now? They can connect to / format external storage drives, run 3D printers and Blender?

No? Guess it isn’t a laptop replacement yet.
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
daanodinot Avatar
99 months ago
iPads suck as a laptop. I'll let Craig Federighi explain why ('https://www.wired.com/story/wwdc-2018-federighi-ios-apps-on-macos'):

"We really feel that the ergonomics of using a Mac are that your hands are rested on a surface, and that lifting your arm up to poke a screen is a pretty fatiguing thing to do."

The iPad will never be a laptop replacement until Apple adds a trackpad.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrBat Avatar
99 months ago
Put a mouse and Desktop applications on the iPad and we can start talking about being a "real" replacement for a laptop.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cookie18 Avatar
99 months ago
People in these comments are really ****ing butthurt over these ads. In all of these cases an iPad could be better than a laptop. A laptop is best for some things, an iPad is best for others. I don’t pull out my MacBook Pro on a flight when I can take out my 12.9" iPad instead, the iPad is vastly superior in that situation.

People act like you can only own one of these ****ing devices, own one or both or none. It doesn’t take away from what each device does better.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
asiga Avatar
99 months ago
The problem here is that Apple is assuming that nobody in a flight is going to open a Terminal and invoke the C compiler. And the shocking reality is that one of the main reasons why I switched to the Mac years ago is how well the Terminal worked (as opposed to Windows) in a computer that "just worked" (as opposed as a Linux PC).

But now, Apple says to us: "go away, use a Linux PC".
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)