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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

[update with material about Tuesday's event, change headline if confirmed]

Apple is ready to fight Google's Chromebooks with cheaper iPads [theverge.com]

Apple has a big problem. Just five years ago, its iPads and Mac laptops reigned supreme in US classrooms, accounting for half [nytimes.com] of all mobile devices shipped to schools in 2013. Apple has now slipped behind both Google and Microsoft in US schools with Google's Chromebooks leading the way in classrooms, securing nearly 60 percent [futuresource-consulting.com] of shipments in the US as overall iPad sales declined for three straight years [theverge.com]. Apple is now ready to strike back against Chromebooks with some cheaper iPads.

Apple is holding a special education-focused event [theverge.com] on Tuesday that promises "creative new ideas for teachers and students." Rumors suggest Apple is preparing to launch a $259 budget iPad [theverge.com] model this year, while Bloomberg reports [bloomberg.com] that a "low-cost iPad" will be announced alongside new education software. The new iPad could even support a stylus [theverge.com], like the Apple Pencil found on the more expensive iPad Pro models.

The article notes a cancelled $1 billion program to give iPads to students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Administering the iPads back then wasn't easy, but Chromebooks store their data in the cloud. If a student forgets their Chromebook at home, they can log in to another device using their Google account. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has criticized [eff.org] Google's G Suite for Education for storing students' personal information in the cloud without their knowledge or consent.

Related: L.A.'s iPad-Friendly School Superintendent Resigns Under a Cloud [soylentnews.org]
Los Angeles Schools Halve Email Retention after Scandal [soylentnews.org]
Los Angeles Schools iPad Program Target of Federal Criminal Probe [soylentnews.org]
NH School District: One Chromebook Per Student by 2018; Paper Textbooks Going [soylentnews.org]

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