It’s not hard to find a cheap tablet, these days, but it’s hard to find a cheap tablet from Apple. While Android tablets have managed to become cheap enough to be nearly ubiquitous, the iPad has been stuck at a premium price. But, next week, Apple is reportedly going to shave nearly half off the cost of getting on iOS.
According to Bloomberg, an education event next week will showcase a new, cheaper iPad:
In Chicago, the world’s most-valuable technology company plans to show off a new version of its cheapest iPad that should appeal to the education market, said people familiar with the matter. The company will also showcase new software for the classroom, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private plans.
Currently, the cheapest iPad is the iPad 4, which runs about $400. Admittedly, any iPad is probably outside the price range of your average school district, but lower-cost versions will make it more accessible, and handier to have in the classroom. Apple is also reportedly working on a new MacBook Air, which was last given a real refresh in 2010, but that won’t be ready until later in the year.
It’s a curious approach from a company that seems obsessed, lately, with reclaiming its crown as the most innovative smartphone maker. In some ways, it’s a return to Apple’s roots, as the company spent much of the ’80s and ’90s dominating the education market. Can it return to that dominance? We’ll likely find out as it pushes to get more iPads in more classrooms.
(via The Verge)