Debunking The New iPad Pro Ads: Not Virus Proof, Questionable Value For Money

If you’ve seen the iPad Pro’s newest ad campaign, they were pretty hilarious—hilarious because it was definitely misleading. No PC virus? Faster than PC? Think again.

Apple is a genius at marketing their products. They have great products, yes, most of the time overpriced, but great nonetheless. Apple has had a good history of producing both whimsical and heartwarming ads and commercials.

Apple taught us to think different.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFEarBzelBs

Apple Music made us laugh.

https://youtu.be/CQY3KUR3VzM

A random Apple Christmas advert made us go d’aaawwww.

https://youtu.be/aFPcsYGriEs

And then they made this.

https://youtu.be/dRM31VRNQw0

Okay, so at first watch, let’s give it to Apple, it’s funny. This iPad Pro commercial, one of the four new iPad Pro ads released by the Apple’s new iPad Pro campaign, pokes fun at PC viruses and assures iPad Pro users that no such viruses can come to harm them.

It is common knowledge that Apple devices are more hardy against viruses compared to their competitors, whether it is the iPhone against the Android smartphones, the iPad compared to the Google-powered tablets, or the Macs compared to the Windows PCs. But the keyword here is hardy. An iPad Pro might be more resistant against viruses but the truth is, Apple products are not completely immune to viruses and malware attacks.

This new iPad Pro ad campaign implies that the iPad Pro is virtually PC virus-proof. There are two ways to read this statement. One, on a more literal level, of course, duh, a PC virus does not penetrate iOS products such as the iPad Pro. That’s why they’re called “PC” viruses because they’re assigned to attack PCs. Since a PC and an iPad Pro are built differently and work differently, you would expect PC viruses not to be able to penetrate an iPad Pro, the same way that you would have a Windows PC version of one application and an iPad Pro version of an application. You can’t just install a PC app on the iPad Pro and expect it to work, right?

This brings me to the second point, that viruses are built differently and work differently to be able to penetrate an OS X or an iOS. Don’t kid yourself. The iOS and OS X are not impenetrable. No matter how much money you’re spending on that iPad Pro, there will be viruses and malwares that could be developed specifically to target Apple devices.

Fortune lists one right off the bat in 2016, called AceDeceiver, which hack non-tampered or not-jailbroken iPhone and iPad devices. Although, while hackers still generally target the easier Android devices, the report noted that hackers are turning their attention to iOS devices such as iPhone and iPads as well “because they are so widely popular.”

This 2016 malware follows a previous malware case released by security firm Bit9 + Carbon Black, which reported that there is an increased influx of malware attacks on the Mac OS X in 2015.

It was also in 2015 when Security company FireEye reported that hackers find their way into iOS devices when unknowing people download legitimate-looking, but malicious apps into their iPhone or iPad. FireEye was able to uncover 11 iOS apps that mimic real apps such as, Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Google Chrome, and Skype, and upon installation, provides a backdoor from the iOS device to the hackers. Through these remote servers that are established by the malicious apps, personal data could be transmitted such as photos, messages sent, and browser history logs.

And if you want a more recent virus attack on the Mac OS X, then you’ll be devastated to know that a recent ransomware called KeRanger has been recently widespread in various Mac OS X devices, according to Macworld. Worse than malware, a ransomware, as Macworld explains it, “encrypts the files on your computer so you can’t use them, and force you to hand over money to get the files unencrypted.”

2017’s KeRanger works exactly like this and instructs the affected user to pay $400 in Bitcoins to be able to get their files back. And surprise, surprise, even antivirus applications can’t detect KeRanger and its sister malwares.

@thomasareed Antivirus Spartan didn’t detect Adwind, KeRanger, Eleanor, Keydnap or Mokes.???? pic.twitter.com/V4qdeBDrW3

— Thomas Reed (@thomasareed) September 14, 2016

So if you think you’re invulnerable just because you’re on the iPad Pro or on the iMac, think again. If you’re not careful with what websites you open and what files you download, your brand new iPad Pro could be just as vulnerable as the dirt-cheap PC next to you.

Which brings us to the second iPad Pro ad that obviously attacks the PC, too.

https://youtu.be/INs_bnk4yJQ

That iPad Pro ad up there is another hilarious one.

“It’s actually faster than most laptops…”

If you’re planning to get a device for school or for light work and you encounter this ad, and it made you think, “ah, maybe I should really just get an iPad Pro instead of a laptop or a PC!” Please, wake up.

Right off the bat, the iPad Pro 12.9 inches starts at $799 for the lowly 32 GB device (which you probably wouldn’t want because, hello, that’s like five apps and a couple of photos and videos). The decent 256 GB variant of the iPad Pro will cost you $1000 easy. So you ask, how great does a $1000 iPad Pro perform, compared to a $1000 PC? Imagine the specs you can have with a $1000 PC! You’ll be able to get the best dedicated graphics card, 1TB of HDD space, maybe even a few gigabytes of SSD, and maybe even thrice the RAM of that iPad Pro, may I just add. This writer’s laptop cost less than $1000 but it has twice the computing power of the iPad Pro.

So, okay, that $1000 iPad Pro may be faster than dirt-cheap laptops you get for $400 or even cheaper. But think again, what your $1000 can get you if you really need a decent computing device.

I do not hate the iPad Pro. In fact, it’s an amazing piece of device, as Tech Radar would agree. But the question is, who is it for? If you need a decent computing device and you only have $1000 to splurge, maybe try not to get swayed by that new iPad Pro ad. The iPad Pro is not a PC, yes, the new iPad Pro ads got that. And that’s not entirely a good thing! If anything, it’s limiting. If you have a great computing device and would love to splurge on some new toy, go ahead, get the iPad Pro. You’re exactly the money-surplus kind of market the iPad Pro is made for.

[Featured image by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images]