Apple apologises for iPad ‘Crush’ ad after backlash

In this image taken from a video advertisement, a hydraulic press crushes an array of creative instruments. The newly-released ad promoting Apple's new iPad Pro has struck quite a nerve online. — Apple via AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple apologised on May 9 after an ad for its latest-edition iPad caused an uproar for showing an industrial press crushing objects linked to human creativity, infuriating artists.

Social media users immediately criticised the ad, which was posted on X by Apple CEO Tim Cook, as painfully tone-deaf at a time when the creative community is worried about its future with the emergence of generative AI.