iPad updated for schools, but price remains same
Apple sent the iPad back to school, with an update designed to appeal to teachers.
The new iPad keeps its familiar design and $329 price, but gets a speed boost and support for Apple’s Pencil stylus.
The biggest changes are in software. The iPads will come with new stylus-friendly versions of Apple’s Pages and Numbers productivity apps, as well as the ability for multiple students to share the same device.
Apple also increased free online storage for students to 200 GB.
A refresh of Apple’s tablets, which outsell Mac computers, could help the tech giant regain some ground in the education market it once dominated, but lost to low-priced Google Chromebooks and Microsoft Windows laptops. What’s at stake is the tech loyalty of the next generation.
In elementary and high schools, Apple has gone from teacher’s pet to the back of the class. By the end of 2017, new machines running Google software accounted for about 60 percent of what U.S. classrooms received, according to analysis firm FutureSource. Microsoft accounted for roughly 22 percent. Apple’s iOS held 12.3 percent and its MacOS had 4.7 percent.
Apple’s update addresses some of what’s helped Chromebooks leap ahead, but not all of it.
The tablets are more functional in classrooms with software to help teachers set up and manage accounts as well as keep track of student progress. But Chromebooks with keyboards start as low as $200 — and a $329 iPad doesn’t come with a stylus or keyboard.
Of course, iPads aren’t only popular with students.
They’ve become a mainstay of e-book and periodical readers, Netflix-in-bed watchers and even creative types who attach accessories such as a keyboard and Pencil stylus to the $650-and-up iPad Pro models.
Apple didn’t make design changes that might help make an upgrade feel key to existing iPad owners.
While the latest smartphones feature an all-screen look, the new entry level iPad didn’t trim its edges, lose its home button, or add iPhone X-style Face ID cameras.
Apple unveiled the new iPad in a rare event at a Chicago’s Lane Tech high school, away from its home turf.