If this is accurate, there's some precedent to justify the response: in 2016, a terrorist blew a hole in a Somali airliner with a "laptop-like" device. There's a mounting concern that attackers are once again finding creative ways to bring explosives aboard flights, and electronics are an obvious conduit.

However, this also raises some questions. If there was a specific threat of a bomb-laden iPad, why are the American and British bans different? Why are France and other countries not implementing their own bans when they could also be targets? It's possible that differing intelligence reports played a part, but the inconsistencies suggest that the threat wasn't so specific that it could be narrowed down to exact airports and destinations.