Apple Depicts iPad as Laptop, Textbook, and Paperwork Replacement in Series of New Ads - MacRumors
Skip to Content

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 (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

Ads Are Coming to Apple Maps Feature

Apple Announces Ads Are Coming to Apple Maps

Tuesday March 24, 2026 9:22 am PDT by
As expected, Apple has officially announced that ads are coming to the Apple Maps app on the iPhone and iPad in the U.S. and Canada starting "this summer." Apple says businesses in the U.S. and Canada only will be able to place ads in search results and at the top of a new "Suggested Places" section in the app. "Ads on Maps will appear when users search in Maps, and can appear at the top...
little finder guy macbook neo top

Apple Leans Into Little Finder Guy With New TikTok Videos

Monday March 30, 2026 4:47 pm PDT by
When promoting the MacBook Neo, Apple found a surprise hit with a tiny anthropomorphized version of the Mac Finder icon, which people have taken to calling Little Finder Guy. Little Finder Guy starred in some of Apple's early March TikTok videos, and Apple is now targeting Finder fans with a trio of new videos. Three tutorials on Apple's TikTok account star Little Finder Guy. Videos feature...
iPhone 17 Pro Stickers Ad

Apple Covers iPhone 17 Pro in Stickers in New Ad

Thursday April 16, 2026 8:25 am PDT by
In a video uploaded to its YouTube channel in South Korea today, Apple showed off a handful of iPhone 17 Pro devices decorated with tiny stickers. The stickers are placed on the iPhone 17 Pro's so-called "plateau," the protruding aluminum area housing the rear cameras, an LED flash, a microphone, and the LiDAR Scanner. The video has the hashtags #PhoneDecor and #iPhoneCustomization....

Top Rated Comments

_Refurbished_ Avatar
102 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
102 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)
102 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
102 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
102 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)
102 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)