Skip to main content

First iPad Commercials Air During Oscars While Jobs Treads Red Carpet

We’ve been hearing about iPad commercials since before the iPad even officially existed, but Sunday night brought the first real iPad love to TV screens across the nation. Apple aired its initial iPad commercial during the 82nd annual Academy Awards on Sunday night.

In the same vein as previous iPhone commercials, the 30-second spot shows a user running the iPad through its paces to the upbeat tune of “There Goes my Love” by The Blue Van: displaying Web pages, zooming maps with a pinch, watching Star Trek, thumbing through photos, and of course, flipping through e-books.

Recommended Videos

Probably not coincidentally, Steve Jobs himself also made an appearance on the red carpet among the stars. Besides using the event as a springboard for the first iPad commercial, Jobs owned Pixar for 20 years and is now the largest shareholder in Disney, the company he sold it off to in 2006.

In a Where’s Waldo moment, news of Jobs’ attendance first appeared from the below photo, where he appears to the right of the woman in the white dress. Dancer Jon M. Chu later allayed skeptics on Twitter with an up-close photo of Jobs ditching the trademark turtleneck for a tux.

Image used with permission by copyright holder
Nick Mokey
As Digital Trends’ Editor in Chief, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team covering every gadget under the sun, along with…
You’ll have to wait a while longer for a new base model iPad
The iPad (2022) in its yellow color.

Apple has had a busy year on the iPad front. Just last week, the company announced the iPad mini (2024). In the spring, it launched next-generation versions of the iPad Air (2024) and iPad Pro (2024). The entry-level iPad is the only model that hasn’t been refreshed this year — and it probably won’t be.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple won’t announce a new regular-sized iPad until 2025. As such, we’ll probably see the 11th-generation iPad arrive in the first half of the year alongside the long-rumored iPhone SE 4 and next-generation iPad Air versions.

Read more
Apple iPad mini (2024) vs. iPad (2022): Which iPad to buy?
Proportional comparison of blue iPad mini 2024 beside yellow iPad 2022.

After a three-year wait, Apple has finally breathed some new life into its smaller iPad mini. While fans of the new 8.3-inch tablet may be disappointed by the lack of changes on the outside, it’s what’s under the hood that counts, and the 2024 iPad mini packs plenty of power into a tiny frame.

It’s an update that leapfrogs Apple’s entry-level full-sized iPad (2022) in every way except for its price tag. This part raises the most important question: Is the two-year-old iPad a worthwhile purchase for its larger screen, or is it worth paying $150 more to work on a smaller canvas? Let’s dive in and see if the trade-offs are worth it.
Apple iPad mini (2024) vs. iPad (2022): specs

Read more
The next iPad mini will get the display upgrade it sorely needs
2024 iPad mini in the hands of a person.

The iPad mini (2024) has only just arrived on the market, but news about the next version is already starting to leak. The latest nugget is good news for everyone except perhaps those who just bought the newest model. According to display expert Ross Young, Apple’s next iPad mini will feature an OLED display. Like previous versions, the current iPad mini has an 8.3-inch LCD.

An OLED display, which is tech that is already available on the iPad Pro (2024) and newer iPhones, offers increased brightness, deeper blacks, and better power efficiency than LCD.

Read more