New Stylus-Friendly iPad for Students Headlines Apple Media Briefing

Apple’s first major media briefing of the year focused mainly on education and how its products can be used by teachers and students to enhance the learning experience. But the star of the briefing was a new 9.7-inch iPad at the show, complete with a big screen, plenty of power, and an affordable price tag. Most notably, the new iPad also works with Apple Pencil, a stylus that was previously only reserved for the company’s expensive iPad Pros. Apple’s education event didn’t necessarily break new ground, but it illustrates how important the iPad and education are to the company business strategy Read on to learn more about new iPad and some of the announcement from this week’s briefing.

Apple isn’t trying anything new with its iPad design. Instead, the device comes with the same hefty bezels around the display with the Touch ID fingerprint sensor located at the bottom of the screen. Above the screen, users will find the front-facing camera. Unlike the iPad Pro, the iPad doesn’t have a Smart Connector, so users won’t be able to plug in a Smart Keyboard or other accessories that use the port.

Apple had previously only offered the Apple Pencil with its iPad Pro models. But all that has changed with the iPad. Now, those who buy the iPad will be able to digitally write on the screen, take notes and draw with the stylus. Consumers will need to buy the Apple Pencil separately for $99, but Students can buy the stylus for $89.

The new iPad comes bundled with the company’s A10 Fusion chip. That processor, which comes with 64-bit architecture and four cores, should deliver much faster performance than what was available in the previous-generation iPad. In fact, Apple said that the chip is designed for 4K video editing, graphics-intensive games, and augmented reality apps.

Apple noted during its event that the iPad is perfect for students because of its portability. The tablet weighs just one pound and is thinner than many other higher-end slates at .29 inches. Still, because of its thick bezels, the tablet has a sizable footprint at 9.4 inches tall and 6.6 inches wide.

In keeping with its desire to appeal to customers who want to be mobile, Apple said that its iPad is available in both WiFi-only as well as WiFi-and-LTE versions. The LTE model will come unlocked and can run on all four major carrier networks in the U.S. Calls over LTE networks can’t be made from the iPad, but WiFi-based calling is available.

Apple said that its new iPad can deliver up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge. Apple said that experience shows that the battery will deliver 10 hours of live on the WiFi and LTE models during continuous Web surfing along with music and video playback. Battery life drops to a maximum of nine hours during continuous LTE use.

Apple’s new iPad comes with a 9.7-inch screen that has a 2,048-by-1,536-pixel resolution. That all translates to about 264 pixels per square inch. Apple said that the screen has been reinforced with a fingerprint-resistant “oleophobic” coating to protect against smudging. Apple also promised precise interaction with the Apple Pencil to closely approximate writing with a pen and paper.

Apple’s iPad pricing varies by the customer. Students will be able to get the iPad for a starting price of $299 on the WiFi-only model and $429 for the LTE version. Consumers will need to pay $329 for the WiFi-only model or $459 for the LTE model. Opting for additional storage will also bump up the price.

To complement its iPad announcement, Apple also unveiled a new iPad-ready education app called Schoolwork. The app gives teachers the ability to create assignments and track student progress all from an iPad. The app also has a Handouts feature that lets teachers create assignments and digitally send them to their students. As time goes on, Apple expects Schoolwork to be integrated into third-party educational apps and said that it’s already working with Kahoot and Tynker. Other educational apps are available in its App Store.

Apple’s Classroom app is a teaching assistant designed for the iPad. At Apple’s March 27 event, the company announced that it’s now bringing the app to the Mac. Classroom gives teachers the ability to create profiles of their student and track their work. More importantly, it gives teachers control over the iPads students are using in class. From the app, teachers can launch programs on their students’ tablets and ensure they’re focused on the assignment at hand. The Mac version of Classroom is launching in beta in June.