AppleInsider Staff
Apple on Monday pushed out a new email ad blitz focusing on the iPad's prowess in productivity, highlighting both first-party apps like Pages, Numbers and Keynote alongside Microsoft's Office for iPad.
Titled "Achieve big things," Apple's mailer pushes back against Microsoft's increasingly aggressive Surface Pro 3 campaign, which casts the Redmond, Wash. company's "tablet and a laptop" as true productivity tool.
Apple takes a different tack with its most recent ad, noting that the iPad is not a replacement for its MacBook lineup, but instead a portable hardware solution powered by powerful apps. Specifically, the ad says the App Store's titles "are designed to take advantage of the things only iPad can do."
Of the apps selected to highlight iPad's at-work acumen, Apple chose its own iWork suite, noting Pages, Numbers and Keynote come free with new tablet purchases. In addition to onboard creation and editing features, the apps connect with iCloud to take documents cross-platform, allowing users to start a project on iPad and finish on a Mac.
Along with iWork, Apple threw a spotlight on Microsoft Office for iPad, which debuted in March as a trio of "freemium" app offerings connected to the Office 365 subscription service. Anticipated for years, the collective Office for iPad app suite — Word, Excel and Powerpoint — quickly rocketed up the charts, netting 27 million downloads after 46 days of availability.
Apple has been pushing the productivity side of iOS as of late and most recently kicked off a limited time sale on 20 popular productivity, business and utility apps.
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Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
15 Comments
Talk about turning the other cheek.. Microsoft: Out tablet is more productive than Apple's laptop. Apple: Our tablet is more powerful with Microsoft Office.
So glad I bought a MacBook Pro w Retina this year vs an iPad (after owning 3 of them). There is no competition for productivity between a laptop vs a tablet. I'm going for a Kindle HDX next time. Tablets just don't cut it for most anything other than reading or viewing.
Meh, not a selling point for me. I'm not a slave to MS-Office any more.
[quote name="pazuzu" url="/t/181780/new-ipad-ad-campaign-focuses-on-productivity-highlights-microsoft-office-support#post_2577156"]So glad I bought a MacBook Pro w Retina this year vs an iPad. There is no competition for productivity between a laptop vs a tablet. I'm going for a Kindle HDX next time. Tablets just don't cut it.[/quote] Seems to me these ads and emails are Apple saying "iPad is more than just a consumption device", not "replace your Mac with an iPad". Microsoft is trying to portray Surface as the ultimate device. One stop shop for everything you need. Apple is not doing that with iPad although they know a lot of people have ditched their laptop for iPad. This is reminding people there's a lot more you can do on your iPad besides watching movies, surfing the internet and playing games.
So glad I bought a MacBook Pro w Retina this year vs an iPad (after owning 3 of them). There is no competition for productivity between a laptop vs a tablet. I'm going for a Kindle HDX next time. Tablets just don't cut it for most anything other than reading or viewing.
Just you talking about your own limits.