May 9 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) apologized on Thursday

after an advertisement for its latest iPad Pro model sparked

criticism by showing an animation of musical instruments and

other symbols of creativity being crushed, Ad Age magazine

reported.

"Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users

express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad.

We missed the mark with this video, and we're sorry," Ad Age

quoted the iPhone maker as saying.

An Apple ( AAPL ) spokesperson declined to comment but directed

inquiries to the Ad Age report.

The advertisement titled "Crush" has over a million views on

Apple's ( AAPL ) YouTube channel and was shared by CEO Tim Cook on social

media platform X. It shows a variety of creative tools and

objects such as a camera, guitar, piano and paint being

destroyed by an industrial crusher.

Then the crusher reveals the newly unveiled iPad,

symbolizing how much the new thinner model encompasses.

Online commenters criticized the ad as insensitive and an

unwelcome departure from the company's historic positioning of

its brand as nonconformist, human friendly and an antidote to a

dystopian, colorless world.

In a post on X, actor Hugh Grant said the ad showed "the

destruction of the human experience courtesy of Silicon Valley."

The Cupertino-California based tech giant unveiled the

tablet on Tuesday with a new chip for artificial intelligence

computing as it rushes to catch up with its Big Tech rivals in a

race to dominate the emerging technology.

Apple ( AAPL ) said the iPad Pro, which became available for order on

Thursday, has upgraded displays and is "the thinnest Apple ( AAPL )

product ever."