My understanding is that it has to do with familiarity. With so many iPads, they become a familiar pattern to the X-ray operator and instantly recognizable. Lap

My understanding is that it has to do with familiarity. With so many iPads, they become a familiar pattern to the X-ray operator and instantly recognizable. Laptops, however, come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. A few years back, my laptop needed to get hand-inspected because it didn't have a battery. It had completely bricked, so I didn't even bother taking it with me. TSA wanted to get a second look at it to figure out why it looked so weird.