New Apple iPad with Pencil: $299 for Students
 

As part of the Apple announcements today at the education focused event in Chicago, Apple introduced/refreshed an iPad aimed mostly at students. The heart of the iPad is similar to a previous 9.7-inch design, but with Apple’s A10 Fusion chip at the core, and several updated features to bring it more in-line with Apple’s latest hardware and software features, as well as introducing Apple Pencil support that was previously only available on the iPad Pro.


The new iPad will follow a number of similar features to the previous 9.7-inch version, including the screen resolution, TouchID, a new HD FaceTime camera, a rear camera with 8MP resolution, and will be rated up to 10 hours of battery life. The Apple A10 Fusion chip, as originally found in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, is a four-core device with two large ‘Hurricane’ cores and two smaller cores, also with a 6-core PowerVR GPU. The 32GB with Wi-Fi model for standard consumers it will still be at the $329 price point of the previous 9.7-inch iPad, but for schools it will be at $299. The same 32GB version but with LTE will run $100 more at a minimum.


The key focus is on the Pencil, which is sold separately. Much like with the iPad Pro launch and how much attention was put into the Pencil then, Apple spent a considerable amount of time in the presentation discussing how using the Pencil will be beneficial for students: making notes, annotations, or taking advantage of a number of study-focused apps that can leverage the qualities of a Pencil. Drawing was a big part of the display. Apple promised new versions of the core first party iWork applications, such as Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, with Apple Pencil baked into the design.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/12586...9-for-students