Apple's latest iPad Pro ad asks, 'What's a computer'

Posted:
in iPad edited August 2016
In a continued push to position iPad Pro as a full-fledged laptop replacement, Apple on Monday released a short TV ad touting the tablet's benefits over traditional portable machines.




Titled "What's a computer," Monday's 30-second spot offers a brief rundown of iPad Pro highlights, including a stow-able keyboard, multi-touch display and handwriting input via Apple Pencil. The result, Apple argues, is a much more flexible platform than rigid keyboard-and-screen designs.

"Just when you think you know what a computer is, you see a keyboard that can just get out of the way, and a screen you can touch and even write on," a narrator says. "When you see a computer that can do all that, it might just make you wonder, 'Hey, what else can it do?'"



Apple is working hard to create a narrative for iPad Pro, one that positions the tablet as part workstation, part play station. Historically, tablets are viewed as mere content consumption devices, as they lack the hardware and software assets required to run professional applications.

As seen in today's advertisement, which showcases the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, Apple believes its latest tablet solution can be a viable work machine. Aside from advanced hardware technology like Apple Pencil and a built-in touchscreen, iPad Pro is made more capable through unique software integrations found in iOS 9. For example, the latest iPads Pro can handle quick multitasking, two-up Slide Over app views and even picture-in-picture video.

AppleInsider found the most recent 9.7-inch iPad Pro release a worthy successor to the iPad Air 2, noting new hardware like Smart Connector and Apple Pencil open the door to professional grade applications. in it current iteration, however, power users looking for a true laptop replacement might find the iOS ecosystem a bit wanting.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 53
    g-newsg-news Posts: 1,107member
    What's that middle finger protruding from a closed fist?

    freethinking
  • Reply 2 of 53
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    Is this the first ad for iPad Pro.
  • Reply 3 of 53
    shevshev Posts: 84member
    The MacBook Pro and Mac Pro are computers. You know, those dusty neglected things in the back of the cupboard that you haven't updated for 2 years but still charge $2,000+ for. 
    edited August 2016 lmaccnocbuifreethinkingsingularitybdkennedy1002
  • Reply 4 of 53
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    g-news said:
    What's that middle finger protruding from a closed fist?

    Old ways die hard. The “real work can only be done on a real computer” crowd will raise that middle finger to the very end, just like the Google Glass diehards did.
    tmaypscooter63redgeminipamessagepad2100nolamacguyroundaboutnow
  • Reply 5 of 53
    lmaclmac Posts: 206member
    What's a computer? A computer is something you do work on. An iPad is something you consume media and play games on. You could try to dig a trench in your ballet slippers, but workboots make more sense.
    cnocbuixzustaticx57bdkennedy1002rhonin
  • Reply 6 of 53
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    A computer is something you wish you had when trying to use an iPad for any large task that requires and involves a lot of files.
    staticx57larryasingularitybdkennedy1002jlanddrhonin
  • Reply 7 of 53
    Of course uses cases vary, and I can see why for a lot of people, the iPad Pro is a decent replacement for their computer.

    I use both an MBP15 and the iPad Pro for both both work and play. At work, it's 80/20, respectively. At work, and during travels, it's the iPP 80, MBP 20. I love both. But to suggest that the iPP is generically a substitute for a laptop is silly. And false. For starters, the iPP does not allow for the ability to transfer folders, just files. That's often clunky for my needs. There are certain key types of common software I use in my work -- SAS, Stata, simulation software -- that are just not a possibility on the iPP. Finally, while it's nice to be able to multitask between two different apps, I often need more than two, and the iPP can't handle that. 
    cnocbui
  • Reply 8 of 53
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    iPad has always been about how the tools we use for doing work change according to the work we need to do, and that in turn changes the work we do, to take advantage of the tools available.  

    In 1960, it took a roomful of people with mechanical calculators on their desks to do the work that later generations could easily perform with a spreadsheet.  But when spreadsheets and other business applications came along, the work they made possible was wholly different from the problem they were initially designed to solve.

    iPads, and specifically the iPad Pro, is not designed to do the same work that a PC traditionally did.  Those who are suggesting the iPad Pro is a poor replacement for a PC are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.  The tablet form factor has its own destiny, which will take on many, but not all the tasks of a PC, while enabling new forms of work and productivity that PCs cannot accommodate.
    ai46emoellertmaypscooter63brucemcwaverboycanukstormredgeminipachianolamacguy
  • Reply 9 of 53
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member
    Is that a hint that Apple is going to abandon the Intel platform? :(
    ai46xzu
  • Reply 10 of 53
    I remember when the iPad first came out...what I noticed most was that clunky, old, crappy websites were forced to revamp their company websites because of the Apple iPad. I much preferred using the iPad w/ the revamped, usually more modern websites on the iPad/iOS as opposed to looking at the old websites on my iMac.

    The real estate industry got by with so much crap for so long...I remember having to run Parallels with XP on my iMac (slowly) b/c MLS, ZipForms, etc., only supported Windows. Hell, I remember having to have a telephone landline so the Lockbox key could update every night. And I had to have a Multi-function printer so as to Fax contracts. Ugh!


    Oops! Sorry. Went off there for a little bit.

    I think it was Schiller who said recently, Apple wants you to use your iPhone, and if you need a little bigger screen, use your iPad,  and if that's not the best fit, use your MBP and if that's not doing it, use your iMac. I agree w/ him. As Neil said in the Ai Podcast the iPad didn't replace the PC, but the iPhone in your pocket did. I kind of agree w/ that. It's about "screens." I wonder, if at some point, we end up carrying the iPhone and have "dumb" iPad sized screen at home on the couch and another one at the office. Hmmmm.

    Best
    edited August 2016 ai46justadcomicspscooter63waverboysteveauipilyaredgeminipachianolamacguy
  • Reply 11 of 53
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    lmac said:
    What's a computer? A computer is something you do work on. An iPad is something you consume media and play games on. You could try to dig a trench in your ballet slippers, but workboots make more sense.

    Steve Jobs would agree with you. Let's not forget this slide of his from the iPad keynote: image
    xzu
  • Reply 12 of 53
    Didn't Tim Cook say recently, he travels w/ his iPhone and an iPad pro and keyboard? That's what I'd carry too.

    ai46justadcomicssteveh
  • Reply 13 of 53
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,139member
    ...the effortless encoding, fan silence, glorious 27" monitor & build quality of my quad core i7 iMac seem second to none. Portability aside (and that is of merit!) they can pry my computer out of my cold dead hands...
  • Reply 14 of 53
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,020member
    lmac said:
    What's a computer? A computer is something you do work on. An iPad is something you consume media and play games on. You could try to dig a trench in your ballet slippers, but workboots make more sense.
    Really? Because most of my WORK apps are not available on the macOS platform, only iOS. 

    I actually had to purchase a MacBook Pro so I can see my film editors work (granted I've been using Macs all of my my life, now I just prefer an iPad in my professional life as I'm more productive with it.)
    edited August 2016 tmaystevehchianolamacguy
  • Reply 15 of 53
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,332member
    Not sure why people get uptight about calling an iPad a computer. The Apple Watch, iPhone, Apple TV, and iPod Touch are also computers. It really comes down to what you consider "work" to be. If reviewing and annotating a document or spreadsheet is "work" for you then whatever device you do it on is doing "work." If writing code is "work" for you then doing it one a notebook or Mac Pro or iPad pro is still "work." Just because some huge legacy application designed for last decade's platforms doesn't run on a modern handheld or padtop platform doesn't mean the modern computing platform is not a real computer. Heck, an iPod Touch is several orders of magnitude more powerful than the ancient PCs that earlier generations of professional programmers used for writing Turbo Pascal and Borland C++. Maybe it's the "work" tools that have not kept pace, with massive bloated monstrosities like MS Visual Studio 15 barely able to run acceptably on quad core Xeons with 16 GB of RAM and SSDs. (Is there a reason why applying a service release update on VS needs to take 6 hours to complete on a high end box?)

    Modern computing is all about being able to "work" wherever, whenever, and as opportunistically as possible and with very few compromises. It's not and never will be about one size fits all for every task. Having several different Apple form factors to choose from and making more and more content, of both production and consumption variety, portable across more platforms is a blessing that accentuates the Apple Advantage. Whether it's a handheld form factor or the iCloud, it's all part of the contiguous computing fabric that exists today. This diversity in computing capability and portability will only get wider and better in the future. New form factors will appear and existing form factors will evolve. 

    The cliche arguments and blog stock answers about what is production and what is consumption are moot unless you want to stay firmly entrenched in the past. It's not a zero sum game and overlaps in capability and capacity will continue to fluctuate. Eventually the legacy apps will fade and be replaced by modern apps that leverage a wider swath of the computing fabric. But there will always be certain computing form factors that have situational advantages over other form factors for specific purposes, times, and places.  And no, nobody is going to take away your big desktop box with 2D graphics. It may become less relevant or harder to justify, but it'll still have a place just like antique cars still have a place, like in parades, car shows, old timer reunions, museums, movie re-creations, etc.  
    supadav03tmaywaverboyRayz2016mejsricchianolamacguycoolfactor
  • Reply 16 of 53
    roakeroake Posts: 809member
    A computer is something that will run Logic Pro...
    goodbyeranchjlandd
  • Reply 17 of 53
    stevehsteveh Posts: 480member
    shev said:
    The MacBook Pro and Mac Pro are computers. You know, those dusty neglected things in the back of the cupboard that you haven't updated for 2 years but still charge $2,000+ for. 
    The Apple// is a computer, too.

    So is a Cray XC.

    So is an iPad.
    nolamacguy
  • Reply 18 of 53
    stevehsteveh Posts: 480member
    roake said:
    A computer is something that will run Logic Pro...
    So, IBM's Bleu Gene/P isn't a computer? Fujitsu's K isn't?

    Maybe you're being too restrictive.
    Rayz2016mejsricchianolamacguy
  • Reply 19 of 53
    stevehsteveh Posts: 480member

    lmac said:
    What's a computer? A computer is something you do work on. An iPad is something you consume media and play games on. You could try to dig a trench in your ballet slippers, but workboots make more sense.
    Sometimes you want to dance rather than dig a trench.

    Embrace the power of AND.
    mattinozRayz2016
  • Reply 20 of 53
    k2kwk2kw Posts: 2,075member
    shev said:
    The MacBook Pro and Mac Pro are computers. You know, those dusty neglected things in the back of the cupboard that you haven't updated for 2 years but still charge $2,000+ for. 
    This commercial makes me wonder why macOS can't work in multi-touch mode (like the Surface Pro / Surface Book are  supposed to do but don't quite)
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