Apple’s new ad shows how iPads are going to replace laptops

Apple has released a brand new ad for the iPad Pro. It features a young girl and a rose gold iPad Pro running iOS 11. And Apple’s pitch is quite clear here — the iPad is the future of computers. The company even thinks there will be a time when a young person doesn’t know what “computer” means.

There’s this meme that keeps coming back on Twitter. A young person discovers a floppy disk and calls it the save icon. Apple is using the same idea with this ad. When the mum asks her daughter what she is doing on her computer, she answers “what’s a computer?”

The character is never sitting at a desk. She’s always on the move, always using her iPad. It can be outside in the garden, in the bus, at a coffee shop or sitting at the top of a tree.

She’s using FaceTime and drawing on a screenshot using an Apple Pencil. She browses her photos, then drags and drops a photo into an iMessage conversation while FaceTiming. This is a good example of iOS 11’s new multitasking capabilities.

She types some text in Word, takes a photo, draws, illustrates handwritten notes with photos and reads a comic book. It’s clear that Apple wants you to realize that you can create stuff from an iPad.

It isn’t just a media consumption device. Apple isn’t just selling a device. The company is selling a new spontaneous lifestyle.