ADVERTISEMENT

Apple Launches Low-Cost IPad for Education, Targeting Google

Apple Launches Low-Cost IPad for Education, Targeting Google

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. unveiled a low-cost iPad geared toward students to better compete with Google Chromebooks in the education market.

The new model has a 9.7 inch screen and costs $299 for students and schools, and $329 for other users. The new tablet supports the Apple Pencil accessory, a first for a non-Pro iPad model. Apple also said it is releasing new versions of its iWork productivity apps that work with the Pencil stylus.

Apple VP Greg Joswiak called it "faster than virtually any Chromebook."

Apple also previewed a new feature called Smart Annotation that lets users annotate specific words on a page. An update to the Pages iWork app will also let users create their own digital books via the iPad.

The new iPad still includes the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, versus Face ID 3-D sensor system on the iPhone X, but adds a new A10 Fusion chip which was first released in the iPhone 7 in 2016, up from the A9 in the previous low-cost iPad.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Gurman in San Francisco at mgurman1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net, Alistair Barr, Molly Schuetz

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.