iPads That Don’t Exist
Writing in his Power On newsletter, Gurman said Apple had “internally considered launching an iPad with a plastic back and plastic keyboard” that would ship in the same box for below $500. “The idea was seemingly abandoned, but that was probably Apple’s only real hope of ever giving Chromebooks a run for their money in most schools,” Gurman added.
The new base model iPad is $449, the Magic Keyboard Folio is $249, and the Pencil is $99.
Apple is developing a larger 16-inch iPad that it hopes to release in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a report today from The Information’s Wayne Ma. This would be the largest-ever iPad model, topping the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Previously:
- iPad Pro (6th Generation)
- iPad (10th Generation)
- Surface Pro 9
- Chromebooks Outsell Macs
- Apple Silicon: The Roads Not Taken
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@Total It’s not a point so much as a comparison, since the linked article did not provide that context. So the total for the new model is $698 (w/o Pencil, since Gurman didn’t mention that). Coming from the other side, the (old) M1 MacBook Air is $999, and the M2 one is $1,199. I think it would be interesting to see what Apple could with iPad if it were targeting a lower price from the start.
I work in education; Apple gives a slight discount for bulk buys, but not by $87. iPads are still much more expensive than Chromebooks, especially since you cannot purchase X number of AppleCare incidents across the fleet but rather you have to purchase it on each device.
Apple talks a big game about education, but there’s a lot more they could do to truly support that market.
Price is not what is holding back Apple from the edu market.
In edu, Chromebooks are seen as easy-to-manage grown-up computers (~laptops) vs. hard-to-manage toys (iPads).
And there's a whole edu ecosystem around ChromeOS that Apple will never replicate.
They screwed up the edu market years ago with the LAUSD fiasco.
They will never recover. And I don't think they care.
Talking about price of Chromebooks vs iPads in edu misses the point entirely.
@Raw What about other markets?
@Michael Tsai
Science edu is the market that I develop for. So, I'll stick to my knitting.
fwiw, I'm not making anything native anymore. (I have built iOS and MacOS apps. One still in MAS).
It's all JS and wasm now. Subscriptions. Full steam ahead.
Most of our customers (schools, colleges) that run our web apps in Safari do so b/c that chose iPads many years ago. I doubt that most would make that choice today.
Recent rumors:
• A 16-inch iPad (source: MacRumors).
• macOS "Mendocino" for M2 iPads (source: Majin Bu on Twitter).
Recent facts:
• "Will the Mac get a touchscreen?" Craig's reply: "Who’s to say?" (source: Mark Gurman on Twitter)
I wonder if they're not doing a 16" iPad but a MacBook Pro Ultra, aka MacBook Pro with a touchscreen. It would run an M2 or newer.
Pricing it a premium, exclusive to the highest-end would fit Apple's MO.
The lowest cost iPad plus pencil and keyboard is 587 and I’m sure that school districts get a discount below 500, so your oh so passively aggressively made point was?