New iPad announced - A10 Fusion SoC, Apple Pencil support, $299 for students

[D13H4RD]

Hot off the press from Apple’s event, a new iPad is announced, which is basically a refresh of the last model.

 

This isn’t an iPad Pro, but it carries some upgrades nonetheless.

Quote

Apple is introducing a new iPad today at its education event in Chicago. Rumors of a new, cheaper iPad emerged recently, and Apple is making it official with a refreshed 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support. The updated iPad will be available in Apple stores today, in silver, space gray, and a new gold finish. The tablet will include Touch ID, a HD FaceTime camera, 10 hours of battery life, an 8-megapixel rear camera, LTE option, and Apple’s A10 Fusion chip.

Apple previously lowered the price of its 9.7-inch iPad last year, with a base model starting at $329, but today it’s going a step further for students. Apple is offering the new iPad to schools priced at $299, and to consumers for $329. The optional Apple Pencil will be priced at $89 for students, and the regular $99 price for consumers. This is obviously not the $259 budget iPad pricing that was rumored, but it does make it a little more affordable to students and teachers. Still, an iPad with an Apple Pencil and keyboard is going to run close to $450 — more expensive than cheaper Chromebooks. Google is also starting to introduce Chrome OS tablets, and Chromebooks are starting to support styluses so a $299 iPad could soon come under even greater pressure in classrooms.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/27/17167054/new-apple-ipad-announced-cheap-price-students-2018

(Sorry for quoting The Verge)

 

This iPad targets mainly the educational front, judging from the features showed off at the event 

Quote

Apple demonstrated Smart Annotation, which allows teachers to mark up reports in Pages directly, and the company promised new versions of its iWork apps like Pages, Numbers, and Keynote that support the Apple Pencil. Teachers will also be able to use Macs to create digital books for their classrooms, and Apple is building a books creator into the Pages app.

Alongside the education-focused features, Apple also highlighted some augmented reality apps for the updated iPad, including a Froggipedia app that lets students virtually dissect frogs using an Apple Pencil.

Source: Same as above

 

It costs $299 for students and $329 for everyone else.

 

I’ll take one please.

[Curufinwe_wins]

That 100 dollar apple pencil is such complete horseshit. [As it is for all the companies charging that kind of money for the attachments].

 

And ofc that's where the hyper majority of the profit on these devices will be made.

[captain_to_fire]

This iPad > the announced Acer Chrome OS tablet

 

Not to mention that the A10 Fusion chip may not be as fast as the current A11 Bionic but it's still very fast. I think schools are better off with deploying iPads to elementary and K-12 students than a Windows 10S device regardless if it's ARM or Intel. School admins can easily lock down an iPad to either a single app with Guide Access or just restrict changes and enable parental controls with Restrictions and parental controls are very easy to set up.

 

Which means what separates this to the "Pro" iPad are a more powerful SoC (A10X Fusion), variable refresh rate up to 120 Hz, P3 color gamut display which means less latency for the Apple Pencil, a much less reflective display, same camera as in the iPhone 7. As someone who owned to iPads before (iPad 2 and iPad Air), I think I can finally replace my aging and sluggish iPad Air though most of my experience with the iPad has been very positive. When Steve Jobs announced the first iPad in 2010 I thought only rich people will buy one because Windows XP Tablet PCs flopped in early 2000s and no one really needs this until Steve Jobs launched the iPad 2 in  2011 and I was impressed. 

 

Maybe it's time for Apple to add IP67 water and dust resistance to the future iPads.

[Zodiark1593]

There are rumors that an iPhone SE successor will be unveiled during this event. If the stars line up (if it exists, and has the right features and price tag), such a hypothetical phone would be one I'd buy.

[captain_to_fire]

5 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

mmm... do the parents in LTT forums manage an iCloud account for your kid? (creating one and letting them go nuts go nuts vaguely counts)

I think that's like giving out students a .edu email but it's for remote management and it's iCloud so that the next students can use them.

8 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

you know, we used to have computer labs for computer literacy and an excuse to conduct e-learning (or basically homework but on PC instead of wood pulp sheets and now instead of two days

Apple did an education event years ago and it's about the iPad and iBooks

1 minute ago, Zodiark1593 said:

There are rumors that an iPhone SE successor will be unveiled during this event. If the stars line up (if it exists, and has the right features and price tag), such a hypothetical phone would be one I'd buy.

That might be pushed until WWDC 2018 I think

[Zodiark1593]

1 minute ago, VegetableStu said:

 

nope. event's over.

Hmm, a shame. Might look to find a deal on a used 128 GB model then. Not like multitasking will work well on such a small phone anyway.

[Suika]

I'm curious to see how popular this will actually be with schools, especially knowing how much my nearby school districts love Chromebooks. I believe one of them just ordered a few thousand Chromebooks to make the ratio one per student, but they still have iPads they purchased in the past, just not nearly as many.

 

I don't know much about the iPads but my friend makes it seem like working with Chromebooks is easier. Have an issue? Don't bother, just power wash the thing.

[Tieox]

Needs RGB.

 

However as a tool for the workplace, it has many merits, I do wonder if being capable of withstanding industrial amounts of children and careless teachers is one of them.

 

 

[Guest The Viking]

and i thought the Matepen from the 2016 Matebook was expensive at 50e.... 99.99e (watch it, that's gonna be EU price!) for a stupid plastic pen? what does it offer? turns stuff to gold? 8K preassure points? laser pointer? anything?? (probably not, it's apple after all, the most unnovative company in the last couple of years...)

[WolfDeville]

Not an android fanboy or anything, but why would a student use an iPad for productivity reasons? I used to own an iPhone 4 and have used the latest iPhones and they are so basic they're almost like a toy. Why choose that over an android tablet?

[D13H4RD]

8 minutes ago, TehStranger said:

Not an android fanboy or anything, but why would a student use an iPad for productivity reasons? I used to own an iPhone 4 and have used the latest iPhones and they are so basic they're almost like a toy. Why choose that over an android tablet?

Likely the app ecosystem

 

I’m part of them too although I went several notches higher and got the iPad Pro

[D13H4RD]

24 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

This iPad > the announced Acer Chrome OS tablet

 

Not to mention that the A10 Fusion chip may not be as fast as the current A11 Bionic but it's still very fast. I think schools are better off with deploying iPads to elementary and K-12 students than a Windows 10S device regardless if it's ARM or Intel. School admins can easily lock down an iPad to either a single app with Guide Access or just restrict changes and enable parental controls with Restrictions and parental controls are very easy to set up.

 

Which means what separates this to the "Pro" iPad are a more powerful SoC (A10X Fusion), variable refresh rate up to 120 Hz, P3 color gamut display which means less latency for the Apple Pencil, a much less reflective display, same camera as in the iPhone 7. As someone who owned to iPads before (iPad 2 and iPad Air), I think I can finally replace my aging and sluggish iPad Air though most of my experience with the iPad has been very positive. When Steve Jobs announced the first iPad in 2010 I thought only rich people will buy one because Windows XP Tablet PCs flopped in early 2000s and no one really needs this until Steve Jobs launched the iPad 2 in  2011 and I was impressed. 

 

Maybe it's time for Apple to add IP67 water and dust resistance to the future iPads.

I think the reason schools are using Chromebooks is due to its price

 

Apple has a chance to shake it up with the $299 price tag for students though the pen is expensive. There are third party options though 

[Eduard the weeb]

As a students note are much easier on a laptop then a tablets 

 

" But eduard you can get the keyyyboardd with it "

 

doesn't matter even a laptop will pretty much always be better for notes then a Tablet with a keyboard

[Drak3]

38 minutes ago, TehStranger said:

Not an android fanboy or anything, but why would a student use an iPad for productivity reasons? I used to own an iPhone 4 and have used the latest iPhones and they are so basic they're almost like a toy. Why choose that over an android tablet?

Only cheap ARM tablet with a good active stylus.

[captain_to_fire]

26 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Apple has a chance to shake it up with the $299 price tag for students though the pen is expensive. There are third party options though 

I'm not aware of third party stylus solutions that will work with the iPad's palm rejection other than their own other than some Bluetooth connected stylus that will only work with a few writing apps. Yeah the Apple Pencil is expensive but its precision is one of the best. 

[GoodBytes]

Apple, Microsoft and Google, all fighting for the education market

Great pricing for the device (perhaps closer to actual cost of the device. We will see its actual performance, display and battery life, to confirm that).

 

The pen is sadly better at drawing than note taking. No eraser functionality, short battery life, and non-replaceable battery is really a killer for a 100$ pen.

 

Now we can easily compare it with the Surface pen

The Surface pen uses AAAA batteries, which big packs from Amazon can be acquired for cheap, and you have the eraser functionality, and has very long battery life (should last 1 school year), although, still 100$ (89$ for students), if you don't shop around.

 

BUT, regardless the Surface Pro is one heck of a costly device. For a device with a good pen, Apple offering is very good.

What kills Microsoft in that, is that Intel CPUs are too expensive to allow inexpensive devices. ARM is a choice soon, but the SoCs are still pricey due to the heaviness of full Windows 10 running on it. Basically high-end, and even then not powerful enough. Maybe in 2-3 years, but yea.. might be 2-3 years too late

 

[GoodBytes]

23 minutes ago, Eduard the weeb said:

As a students note are much easier on a laptop then a tablets 

 

" But eduard you can get the keyyyboardd with it "

 

doesn't matter even a laptop will pretty much always be better for notes then a Tablet with a keyboard

That is why I got a Surface Pro, and it has been great after graduating university and using it at work.

But.. well over 1k to get one

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Was hoping they would announce what they were going to do with the MacBook Air. That thing hasn't seen much love if any since it was introduced in 2010, the same year the iPad was introduced. Their laptop lineup has been backwards for a couple of years now with the MacBook being the flagship thin and light and the Air being... I don't know, the value option even though it's the one with the "Air" branding. 

[captain_to_fire]

10 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

What kills Microsoft in that, is that Intel CPUs are too expensive to allow inexpensive devices. ARM is a choice soon, but the SoCs are still pricey due to the heaviness of full Windows 10 running on it.

I wonder how expensive the core M series processors and why it hasn't replaced Atom CPUs just yet. But I agree that the current Windows 10S on SD835 is still very expensive like the HP Envy x2 and with that price an Eve V is a better buy.

[DrMacintosh]

Not only is this device cheaper than the $329 iPad (for students), it improves greatly on that device and what limited it.

 

The A10 is a screaming SoC

Apple Pencile support opens up the iPad to more artists who love the quality of the Apple Pencil

$30 cheaper is not much cheaper but for $300 this is the best tablet you can buy as a student, period. 

 

This is how you become the only company with profitable tablet sales. 

 

For regular people, the $329 price tag still makes this tablet highly appealing. 

[Levent]

I dont know what kind of students they are aiming for, for my usage anything that has a keyboard makes more sense, TO me something like hp's stream 14 or even 11 makes a lot more sense than this ipad does.

[AG1233]

1 hour ago, hey_yo_ said:

I'm not aware of third party stylus solutions that will work with the iPad's palm rejection other than their own other than some Bluetooth connected stylus that will only work with a few writing apps. Yeah the Apple Pencil is expensive but its precision is one of the best. 

Logitech announced a new stylus that would work with iPad its available for 50$

 

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/27/17168128/apple-logitech-crayon-ipad-stylus-rugged-keyboard-case-education-event-2018

 

EDIT: Nevermind its not available for general public and is only for schools.

[GoodBytes]

2 minutes ago, AG1233 said:

Logitech announced a new stylus that would work with iPad its available for 50$

 

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/27/17168128/apple-logitech-crayon-ipad-stylus-rugged-keyboard-case-education-event-2018

Yes, but 8h of battery life

[TheRandomness]

[ScratchCat]

1 hour ago, hey_yo_ said:

I wonder how expensive the core M series processors and why it hasn't replaced Atom CPUs just yet. But I agree that the current Windows 10S on SD835 is still very expensive like the HP Envy x2 and with that price an Eve V is a better buy.

The lowest end 7th Gen Core M3 has a tray price of $281 while a mid end Atom x5-Z8300 is sold at $21 - over a 1000% increase for Core cores rather than Atom cores.

https://ark.intel.com/products/95449/Intel-Core-m3-7Y30-Processor-4M-Cache-2_60-GHz-

https://ark.intel.com/products/87383/Intel-Atom-x5-Z8300-Processor-2M-Cache-up-to-1_84-GHz

 

40 minutes ago, Levent said:

I dont know what kind of students they are aiming for, for my usage anything that has a keyboard makes more sense, TO me something like hp's stream 14 or even 11 makes a lot more sense than this ipad does.

You can get a keyboard - only another $159 on your $289 product.

Robustness is also a major concern. On the one hand you have the thin, glass-covered iPad and on the other you have a plastic/metal cased laptop - which would be better suited for a student who has to drag one around in a bag full of heavy books?