Apple Announces Cheaper New 9.7-Inch iPad At Its First Launch Event Of 2018
Apple’s first launch event of 2018 has just taken place at Chicago’s Lane Tech College Prep School, where the Cupertino tech giant appears to be going back to its roots. After all, Steve Jobs’ dream was to build Apple’s first computers for education, a sector that has become a major part of Apple for 40 years.
The company maintains that since then, it’s held a “strong belief that technology has a role to play in the classroom.”
iPads are currently being used by students for activities such as programming drones and writing music, but Apple wants to “take those experiences even further,” says CEO Tim Cook.
“The most popular iPad has been the 9.7-inch iPad,” announces Greg Joswiak, Apple’s Vice President of Product Marketing, at the event. This model is currently available to schools for US$299.
Updated 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support
With that, Apple has updated its 9.7-inch iPad, which will remain at the US$299 price point for schools, but will be offered to consumers at the starting price of US$329 for the 32GB model.
This refreshed iPad comes with Apple Pencil support, and will aid Apple’s education apps, as well as AR apps for the classroom. This includes updates to iWork—Pages, Keynote, Numbers—Clips, and GarageBand so that “kids [will] have a whole new way to showcase what they’re learning.”
Other specs of the gadget include: up to 10 hours battery life; 9.7-inch display; an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera; up to 300Mbps LTE; A10 Fusion chip; GPS; compass; gyroscope; TouchID; FaceTime HD camera.
It weighs one pound, measures 7.5mm thick, and will come in color options silver, space gray, and new gold.
Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPad, priced at US$329 (32GB) and US$429 (128GB) for consumers, and US$299 for schools, is available now with shipping beginning this week.
In case you missed it, Google unveiled its first-ever Chromebook tablet several hours ago, a day ahead of Apple’s launch event, which is also a 9.7-inch gadget priced at US$329.
[images via Apple]
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