The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Apple’s May 2024 “Crush!” commercial introduced the M4 iPad Pro by showing a hydraulic press destroy musical instruments, paint, cameras, books, sculptures, an arcade machine and other creative objects before revealing the tablet. Apple intended the image to show many tools compressed into one exceptionally thin, powerful device. Viewers instead saw a symbol of creativity, physical culture and human work being obliterated by technology.
Apple apologized, saying the video “missed the mark,” and reportedly abandoned plans to run it on television while leaving the commercial available online at the time. The episode was an advertising and cultural-reception failure—not evidence of a defect in the M4 iPad Pro.
What the “Crush!” commercial showed
The spot used the familiar visual language of hydraulic-press videos. A heavy industrial press descended onto a crowded collection of objects associated with making and enjoying culture: a piano and other instruments, paint and brushes, cameras, a record player, books or journals, sculptures, an arcade game and related equipment. The objects were compressed and destroyed; an iPad Pro emerged when the press lifted.
Apple released the commercial in May 2024 alongside the M4 iPad Pro launch. The product was promoted as an unusually thin device powered by Apple’s M4 chip, with the ad presenting it as a compact embodiment of capabilities once spread across many separate tools. Contemporary accounts described the concept and the resulting backlash from The Guardian, Axios and The Washington Post.
#1 Best Overall
- WHY IPAD PRO — iPad Pro is the ultimate iPad experience in an impossibly thin and light design. Featuring the breakthrough Ultra Retina XDR display, outrageous performance from the M4 chip, superfast wireless connectivity,* and compatibility with Apple Pencil Pro.* Plus powerful productivity features in iPadOS.
- BUILT FOR APPLE INTELLIGENCE—Apple Intelligence is the personal intelligence system that helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data—not even Apple.*
- 13-INCH ULTRA RETINA XDR DISPLAY — Ultra Retina XDR delivers extreme brightness and contrast and exceptional color accuracy and features advanced technologies like ProMotion, P3 wide color, and True Tone.* Plus a nano-texture display glass option is available in 1TB and 2TB configurations.
- PERFORMANCE AND STORAGE — Up to 10-core CPU in the M4 chip delivers powerful performance, while the 10‑core GPU provides blazing-fast graphics. And with all-day battery life, you can do anything you imagine on iPad Pro.* Up to 2TB of storage means you can store everything from apps to large files like 4K video.*
- IPADOS + APPS — iPadOS makes iPad more productive, intuitive, and versatile. With iPadOS, run multiple apps at once, use Apple Pencil to write in any text field with Scribble, and edit and share photos.* Stage Manager makes multitasking easy with resizable, overlapping apps and external display support. iPad Pro comes with essential apps like Safari, Messages, and Keynote, with over a million more apps available on the App Store.
The imagery verifies what the audience saw, but it does not establish that valuable original artworks or working instruments were actually destroyed. Those objects may have been production props, and claims about their value or disposal should not be inferred from the finished video.
What Apple was trying to communicate
The intended proposition was straightforward: an iPad can consolidate functions traditionally handled by a sketchbook, camera, music workstation, editing system, game machine and other devices. The press dramatized compression and consolidation, while the tablet’s thinness and M4 processor supplied the product rationale.
Hydraulic-press videos had also become popular online because viewers found the slow, inevitable crushing process visually satisfying. Using that format gave the launch film an instantly recognizable visual hook. Nothing in Apple’s stated response indicated an intention to eliminate artists or declare physical media obsolete. The message was a marketing metaphor for capability becoming portable and concentrated.
Why the same image felt hostile to creativity
Destruction replaced transformation
A creative-tool metaphor could have shown instruments and materials feeding into new work. “Crush!” showed them being violently eliminated. The iPad appeared only after the destruction, making the sequence read as replacement rather than collaboration: the old sources of creativity disappear, and Apple’s device remains.
Rank #2
- 13" Screen size
- iOS Operating System
- 256 GB Flash Memory
The audience recognized the objects as meaningful
Apple markets the iPad Pro to illustrators, designers, musicians, photographers, filmmakers and other professionals. To those viewers, the props were not generic clutter. They represented learned skills, tactile practice, personal history and working livelihoods. A device advertised to creators therefore seemed to attack the very materials that define their work.
AI and automation made the metaphor more threatening
The commercial appeared during intense arguments about generative AI, job displacement, training data and the declining economic value assigned to human-made creative work. The video never mentions AI, so it is inaccurate to call it an AI advertisement. But audiences interpreted the press through that context: technology seemed to be compressing not just tools, but human labor and authorship. Axios documented that connection.
Corporate power changed the tone
A hydraulic press operated by a large technology company can look less like playful experimentation and more like institutional power. Apple is not perceived as a small outsider challenging convention. Its scale made the industrial machine feel like a statement about corporate dominance over creative workflows.
Digitization and material culture were also at issue
Not every critic was reacting to AI. Some objected to the broader idea that digital convenience should displace physical, imperfect and tactile forms of making. Others read the ad as a reminder of technology companies’ power to consolidate formerly independent tools into a single platform. These interpretations overlap, but none proves that Apple wanted to replace artists.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsRank #3
- 13" Screen size
- iOS Operating System
- 256 GB Flash Memory
Who criticized the commercial
Contemporary reporting described prominent criticism from actor Hugh Grant, director Reed Morano and Basecamp chief technology officer David Heinemeier Hansson, along with reactions from artists, designers, musicians and other creative professionals. Their comments characterized the spot as destructive, dystopian or dismissive of human experience. The Associated Press and MacRumors reported on the response.
Those examples show a highly visible backlash, not a scientific survey of Apple customers or every artist. Some viewers accepted the commercial as an exaggerated product metaphor. The defensible conclusion is that influential critics and online creative communities objected strongly enough to force a corporate response.
Why critics compared it with Apple’s “1984” ad
Apple’s 1984 Macintosh commercial portrayed the company as an enemy of conformity and impersonal control. Critics argued that “Crush!” inverted that story. Instead of a rebel freeing people from a machine, Apple appeared to wield the machine, crushing cultural objects before presenting its own product.
The comparison is an interpretation by critics and advertising commentators, not an official Apple explanation. It mattered because Apple’s brand mythology made the new image feel like a reversal of the company’s historic role. Marketing Dive examined that contrast.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Rank #4
- WHY IPAD PRO — iPad Pro with the Apple M5 chip delivers extraordinary performance for effortless productivity on a stunning display. Take on pro workflows with Neural Accelerators for AI and a redesigned iPadOS with game-changing capabilities.*
- PERFORMANCE AND STORAGE — iPad Pro with M5 brings next-generation speed and the power of on-device AI to all your tasks.* Featuring up to 2TB of storage, 16GB of memory, and Neural Accelerators for next-level AI performance.*
- IPADOS — Run pro apps and get more done with iPadOS 26 with Liquid Glass design and game-changing capabilities.* With an intuitive and flexible windowing system, you can control, organize, and manage your workflows like never before.
- APPLE INTELLIGENCE — Apple Intelligence is the personal intelligence system that helps you communicate, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly with groundbreaking privacy protections at every step.*
- 13-INCH ULTRA RETINA XDR DISPLAY — The world’s most advanced display, featuring extreme brightness, precise contrast, ProMotion, P3 wide color, and True Tone.* Nano-texture display glass available in 1TB and 2TB configurations
Apple’s apology and what happened next
Apple marketing executive Tor Myhren told Ad Age that creativity is central to Apple and that the company wanted to celebrate how people use iPad to express ideas and bring them to life. He acknowledged that the video “missed the mark” and apologized. Apple did not dismiss the criticism as an audience misunderstanding.
Reports from MacRumors, Macworld and Marketing Dive said Apple would not proceed with a planned television run. The video was still reported as available through Apple’s online channels at the time. “Pulled,” “banned” or “recalled” are therefore imprecise: this was a change in distribution plus an apology, not a product recall or cancellation of the iPad Pro launch.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Was the backlash fair?
| Reading | What the imagery communicates |
|---|---|
| Supporters’ reading | One portable device combines capabilities that once required many separate tools; the press is an exaggerated visual shorthand for consolidation. |
| Critics’ reading | The destruction is the point, suggesting that digital technology triumphs by erasing physical culture, creative labor and the tools through which people make art. |
Both readings are plausible because the commercial relies on symbolism rather than a literal demonstration. The controversy was not driven by a false specification claim. It came from a mismatch between Apple’s brand promise—empowering creators—and its chosen metaphor—obliterating creative objects.
The ad also does not prove that the M4 iPad Pro is technically poor, that Apple supports replacing artists with AI, or that the backlash caused a measurable sales decline. It shows how a product can be sound while its advertising execution fails culturally.
Best Value
- WHY IPAD PRO — iPad Pro with the Apple M5 chip delivers extraordinary performance for effortless productivity on a stunning display. Take on pro workflows with Neural Accelerators for AI and a redesigned iPadOS with game-changing capabilities.*
- PERFORMANCE AND STORAGE — iPad Pro with M5 brings next-generation speed and the power of on-device AI to all your tasks.* Featuring up to 2TB of storage, 16GB of memory, and Neural Accelerators for next-level AI performance.*
- IPADOS — Run pro apps and get more done with iPadOS 26 with Liquid Glass design and game-changing capabilities.* With an intuitive and flexible windowing system, you can control, organize, and manage your workflows like never before.
- APPLE INTELLIGENCE — Apple Intelligence is the personal intelligence system that helps you communicate, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly with groundbreaking privacy protections at every step.*
- 11-INCH ULTRA RETINA XDR DISPLAY — The world’s most advanced display, featuring extreme brightness, precise contrast, ProMotion, P3 wide color, and True Tone.* Nano-texture display glass available in 1TB and 2TB configurations
What the incident reveals about technology advertising
Capability can become erasure
Showing that one device contains many functions can imply that the original tools are disposable. The more emotionally significant those tools are, the more dangerous that shortcut becomes.
Creator audiences are alert to replacement narratives
People whose income depends on creative work are especially sensitive to imagery suggesting that technology will make their skills, equipment or labor unnecessary. AI debates heightened that sensitivity, but the concern predates generative AI.
Brand history amplifies contradictions
Apple’s anti-authoritarian “1984” identity made “Crush!” easier to criticize. A company can be judged against its own mythology as much as against the immediate product brief.
Attention is not persuasion
The commercial generated discussion and earned coverage, but attention did not translate into agreement with the product message. Apple’s apology and reported cancellation of television plans indicate that the execution was judged unsuccessful enough to limit its reach.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →What the commercial was selling—and what it was not
The M4 iPad Pro remains the device featured in the campaign, but the commercial’s metaphor should not be treated as proof that an iPad literally replaces every instrument, camera, book or professional workflow shown. Whether it is suitable depends on a user’s software, file-management, peripheral and performance needs.
- Apple iPad Pro: the official product page for the device discussed in the controversy.
- Apple Pencil Pro: relevant to illustration, annotation and pressure-sensitive input, but compatible-hardware requirements apply.
- iPad keyboards: useful for laptop-style writing and productivity, though they add cost and do not turn iPadOS into macOS.
- Apple’s refurbished iPad store: an option for buyers prioritizing lower cost over guaranteed access to every current configuration.
- Samsung Galaxy Tab tablets: an Android alternative for readers who prefer Samsung’s ecosystem, multitasking and file-management approach.
Current August 2026 prices, configurations and software support are not established here; they should be checked directly before purchase. Accessory, storage, cellular and subscription costs also belong in any realistic comparison.
Bottom line
“Crush!” failed because its visual metaphor overwhelmed its product claim. Apple wanted viewers to see creative power concentrated in a thin M4 iPad Pro. Many instead saw a giant company destroying the physical and human foundations of creativity. The apology and abandoned television plans confirm a marketing failure in tone and symbolism, while leaving the iPad Pro itself a separate product question.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
