New low-cost iPad expected at Apple's 'Field Trip' event, cheaper MacBook might not make i...

AppleInsider

Another report notes that Apple's education-themed event in Chicago next week will reportedly feature a new version of its "budget" iPad, as well as new classroom software.

The updated iPad should be geared to appeal to the educational market, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. The people didn't elaborate on features, but it will presumably feature better performance, upgrading from the A9 processor in the current hardware. It could also conceivably add support for the Apple Pencil and/or Smart Keyboard, until now reserved for the iPad Pro.

The company is also once again said to be at work on a less expensive MacBook, most likely to geared to replace the MacBook Air and start at less than $1,000 -- but it probably won't be ready to be announced next week, the sources said.

Another item that may or may not appear at the event is a planned iBooks revamp. The app is expected to get a reorganized layout, including "Reading Now" and audiobooks tabs, and possibly an App Store-like "Today" section with long-form marketing such as author interviews.

None of these three items are particularly a surprise, or particularly revelatory -- and AppleInsider discussed them at some length on Monday. Rumors have been circulating for some time about a new MacBook or MacBook Air at a lower cost, and the existence of a pair of new iPads is known, from international regulatory agency filings.

The company will probably use the event to brag about its partnership with Chicago schools, namely its Swift curriculae for Chicago Public Schools and the City Colleges of Chicago. While open-source, Swift is an Apple-created programming language useful mainly with iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

Apple has been discussing further educational initiatives in the city, sources added.

It's unknown if Apple will use the event to reveal updated iPad Pros. These could have eight-core "A11X" processors, plus front-facing TrueDepth cameras enabling Face ID and hence thinner bezels.

rogifan_new

If Apple keeps the MBA name and adds a retina screen to it they’d basically be admitting the rMB is a failure and there would be zero reason for it to exist. This device would also cannibalize sales of the rMBP sans TouchBar. My guess is either Apple is working on a cheaper rMB that maybe doesn’t have as good of a display as the current rMB models do.

Keeping the Air around is nuts and just makes their laptop lineup very confusing. They need to go back to Steve’s grid of consumer/pro, desktop/laptop and stop confusing the lineup by keeping old products around or (creating new ones) just to fit certain price points. Keep it simple stupid. And if they have to give up some margin to take on Google in the classroom then do it. The last thing Apple should want is students being all in on the Google ecosystem.

bobolicious

16G ram and a retina screen would make the decision a lot tougher - is usb-c overdue for both the air and the mini...?

rogifan_new

bobolicious said:

16G ram and a retina screen would make the decision a lot tougher - is usb-c overdue for both the air and the mini...?

That would make the rMB obsolete.

txsbaker75

I'm curious why Apple doesn't just take the parts for the iMac 21" and install them in a MacMini shell with a breakout adaptor to provide the rear panel connections. It would make it much easier to support & update. They might have to modify the motherboard design slightly to accommodate both case designs, and possible tweak the case designs, too. But that would seem to be a comparatively easy way to offer a low end, up-to-date spec PC with or without display. In fact, they could do it with 2 chassis designs and offer the same thing for the 27" iMac components for a midrange desktop offering. My $0.02, as ever.

blastdoor

One way to get a retina MacBook under $1k would be to replace the Intel processor with something like, say, an A10X. 

ascii

They must have a vision, kind of like kids in history had an exercise book and a pencil, they want to replace that with an electonic pad and pencil. 

Except, is hardware sales to schools really a needed thing any more? A professional videographer, computer programmer or scientist might need specialised hardware to do their job, a 16 core workstation with a big screen and 10 windows open at once. But a school kid? Surely their phone will do (the school can have loaner phones for the poor kids). 

The education market seems like an app market now, not a hardware market. Compelling education apps for kids and sensible management apps for teachers. Why pitch fancy electronic notepads to a cash strapped public school, when the kids could just use their phones, and spend that extra money on sports equipment or renovating the dance hall.

PabloTresUnoSeis

Apple really needs to come up with much lower cost hardware to compete with Google & MS in schools. Say all you want about quality, but matters more than HW/SW quality in public education. With public school severely underfunded..

seanismorris

txsbaker75 said:

I'm curious why Apple doesn't just take the parts for the iMac 21" and install them in a MacMini shell with a breakout adaptor to provide the rear panel connections. It would make it much easier to support & update. They might have to modify the motherboard design slightly to accommodate both case designs, and possible tweak the case designs, too. But that would seem to be a comparatively easy way to offer a low end, up-to-date spec PC with or without display. In fact, they could do it with 2 chassis designs and offer the same thing for the 27" iMac components for a midrange desktop offering. My $0.02, as ever.

Students don’t want an iMac, they want a laptop or iPad.  

You’re thinking of a classroom environment...

macxpress

rogifan_new said:

If Apple keeps the MBA name and adds a retina screen to it they’d basically be admitting the rMB is a failure and there would be zero reason for it to exist. This device would also cannibalize sales of the rMBP sans TouchBar. My guess is either Apple is working on a cheaper rMB that maybe doesn’t have as good of a display as the current rMB models do.

Keeping the Air around is nuts and just makes their laptop lineup very confusing. They need to go back to Steve’s grid of consumer/pro, desktop/laptop and stop confusing the lineup by keeping old products around or (creating new ones) just to fit certain price points. Keep it simple stupid. And if they have to give up some margin to take on Google in the classroom then do it. The last thing Apple should want is students being all in on the Google ecosystem.

What if they made it education only? No educational institutions are going to purchase 12" MacBooks for their students, even if the price was lower. 

Apple has made education only Macs before. I know it pisses people off sometimes because its something they want and can't have but if Apple can make an education specific Mac for a decent price it could end up well for Apple. I don't foresee Apple ever making a true Google CrapBook competitor at the same price point. 

macxpress

seanismorris said:

txsbaker75 said:

I'm curious why Apple doesn't just take the parts for the iMac 21" and install them in a MacMini shell with a breakout adaptor to provide the rear panel connections. It would make it much easier to support & update. They might have to modify the motherboard design slightly to accommodate both case designs, and possible tweak the case designs, too. But that would seem to be a comparatively easy way to offer a low end, up-to-date spec PC with or without display. In fact, they could do it with 2 chassis designs and offer the same thing for the 27" iMac components for a midrange desktop offering. My $0.02, as ever.

Students don’t want an iMac, they want a laptop or iPad.  

You’re thinking of a classroom environment...

Even in a classroom environment, we don't use desktops. Everyone is going 1 to 1 and/or BYOD. Computer labs are becoming a thing of the past as they're simply not needed when everyone already has a computer they carry around with them throughout the day. 

macxpress

blastdoor said:

One way to get a retina MacBook under $1k would be to replace the Intel processor with something like, say, an A10X. 

I believe this is coming sooner rather than later. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple released a new Mac mini with the same specs as well. Both are great candidates for this. I can see Apple is already preparing for this with their own T series of chips and things like that. 

wood1208

If Apple wants to focus more and capture EDUCATION market than offer at least ONE GO-TO 13" and 15" Macbook Air,Macbook and Macbook Pro with reasonable Spec at reasonable Price. For example, without touch strip 13" Macbook Pro with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD should not cost more than $1299. Still not cheap comparing to similar spec Windows laptop but still affordable,usable MAC laptops for the mass market like high-schools, Universities, casual and small businesses. Get rid of 128GB and give USB Type-C Ports on both side.

tht

txsbaker75 said:

I'm curious why Apple doesn't just take the parts for the iMac 21" and install them in a MacMini shell with a breakout adaptor to provide the rear panel connections. It would make it much easier to support & update. They might have to modify the motherboard design slightly to accommodate both case designs, and possible tweak the case designs, too. But that would seem to be a comparatively easy way to offer a low end, up-to-date spec PC with or without display. In fact, they could do it with 2 chassis designs and offer the same thing for the 27" iMac components for a midrange desktop offering. My $0.02, as ever.

Apple wants, all companies actually, to sufficiently differentiate products such that buyers will stretch and buy the next, more expensive product in the lineup. The Mac mini starts at $500. The iMac21 starts at $1000. The 21.5” display in of itself won’t convince customers to go for a $500 upsell, or maybe even $200 from the higher end Mac mini SKU.

So, a Mac mini at $500 or $600 will have to have lower performance to make the upsell more attractive, or they have to increase the Mac mini base price to $700 to $800. This is absent what the components actually cost. Apple needs a good deal from Intel, like $80 for a 15W 3.5 GHz turbo dual-core Skylake processors to hit a $500 price point with sufficient margin. Intel’s MSRP for their low Watt processors are $250 to $400. I don’t think Intel would swing such a deal. A 50 W Core i3 sure, but Apple isn’t going to use high Watt, low performance processors on principle alone.

rogifan_new

macxpress said:

rogifan_new said:

If Apple keeps the MBA name and adds a retina screen to it they’d basically be admitting the rMB is a failure and there would be zero reason for it to exist. This device would also cannibalize sales of the rMBP sans TouchBar. My guess is either Apple is working on a cheaper rMB that maybe doesn’t have as good of a display as the current rMB models do.

Keeping the Air around is nuts and just makes their laptop lineup very confusing. They need to go back to Steve’s grid of consumer/pro, desktop/laptop and stop confusing the lineup by keeping old products around or (creating new ones) just to fit certain price points. Keep it simple stupid. And if they have to give up some margin to take on Google in the classroom then do it. The last thing Apple should want is students being all in on the Google ecosystem.

What if they made it education only? No educational institutions are going to purchase 12" MacBooks for their students, even if the price was lower. 

Apple has made education only Macs before. I know it pisses people off sometimes because its something they want and can't have but if Apple can make an education specific Mac for a decent price it could end up well for Apple. I don't foresee Apple ever making a true Google CrapBook competitor at the same price point. 

I’d be all for an education only Mac or iPad with the sole purpose to be taking share from Google in the classroom.

rogifan_new

tht said:

txsbaker75 said:

I'm curious why Apple doesn't just take the parts for the iMac 21" and install them in a MacMini shell with a breakout adaptor to provide the rear panel connections. It would make it much easier to support & update. They might have to modify the motherboard design slightly to accommodate both case designs, and possible tweak the case designs, too. But that would seem to be a comparatively easy way to offer a low end, up-to-date spec PC with or without display. In fact, they could do it with 2 chassis designs and offer the same thing for the 27" iMac components for a midrange desktop offering. My $0.02, as ever.

Apple wants, all companies actually, to sufficiently differentiate products such that buyers will stretch and buy the next, more expensive product in the lineup. The Mac mini starts at $500. The iMac21 starts at $1000. The 21.5” display in of itself won’t convince customers to go for a $500 upsell, or maybe even $200 from the higher end Mac mini SKU.

So, a Mac mini at $500 or $600 will have to have lower performance to make the upsell more attractive, or they have to increase the Mac mini base price to $700 to $800. This is absent what the components actually cost. Apple needs a good deal from Intel, like $80 for a 15W 3.5 GHz turbo dual-core Skylake processors to hit a $500 price point with sufficient margin. Intel’s MSRP for their low Watt processors are $250 to $400. I don’t think Intel would swing such a deal. A 50 W Core i3 sure, but Apple isn’t going to use high Watt, low performance processors on principle alone.

Upselling shouldnt be part of the equation when it comes to education. Actually I think it’s disgusting period but understand that companies will never stop doing it, especially Apple.

mavemufc

Really hope we get some new iPad Pros as well cause I’ve been waiting to buy one for a while now.

macxpress

rogifan_new said:

macxpress said:

rogifan_new said:

If Apple keeps the MBA name and adds a retina screen to it they’d basically be admitting the rMB is a failure and there would be zero reason for it to exist. This device would also cannibalize sales of the rMBP sans TouchBar. My guess is either Apple is working on a cheaper rMB that maybe doesn’t have as good of a display as the current rMB models do.

Keeping the Air around is nuts and just makes their laptop lineup very confusing. They need to go back to Steve’s grid of consumer/pro, desktop/laptop and stop confusing the lineup by keeping old products around or (creating new ones) just to fit certain price points. Keep it simple stupid. And if they have to give up some margin to take on Google in the classroom then do it. The last thing Apple should want is students being all in on the Google ecosystem.

What if they made it education only? No educational institutions are going to purchase 12" MacBooks for their students, even if the price was lower. 

Apple has made education only Macs before. I know it pisses people off sometimes because its something they want and can't have but if Apple can make an education specific Mac for a decent price it could end up well for Apple. I don't foresee Apple ever making a true Google CrapBook competitor at the same price point. 

I’d be all for an education only Mac or iPad with the sole purpose to be taking share from Google in the classroom.

Originally, thats what the purpose of the eMac was (17" iMac CRT basically). It was originally for education only (eMac= Education Mac) and then the general public bitched so much because they couldn't buy it because they too thought they deserve a cheap 17" all in one, Apple decided to offer it to everyone. Apple has also made the PowerMac G3 All-In-One (AIO) that was Education only and stayed that way. That came out basically the same exact time the original iMac G3 (Bondi Blue) arrived. 

If Apple wanted to confuse the hell out of everyone they could call it an eBook. hehe...

king editor the grate

macxpress said:

rogifan_new said:

If Apple keeps the MBA name and adds a retina screen to it they’d basically be admitting the rMB is a failure and there would be zero reason for it to exist. This device would also cannibalize sales of the rMBP sans TouchBar. My guess is either Apple is working on a cheaper rMB that maybe doesn’t have as good of a display as the current rMB models do.

Keeping the Air around is nuts and just makes their laptop lineup very confusing. They need to go back to Steve’s grid of consumer/pro, desktop/laptop and stop confusing the lineup by keeping old products around or (creating new ones) just to fit certain price points. Keep it simple stupid. And if they have to give up some margin to take on Google in the classroom then do it. The last thing Apple should want is students being all in on the Google ecosystem.

Apple has made education only Macs before. I know it pisses people off sometimes because its something they want and can't have ... 

I married a teacher and have enjoyed her education discount on occasion. Anyone desiring an education-only Mac should follow suit. Only downer is that I've got it bad, got it bad (got it bad), I'm hawt for teacher.

bobolicious

rogifan_new said:

bobolicious said:

16G ram and a retina screen would make the decision a lot tougher - is usb-c overdue for both the air and the mini...?

That would make the rMB obsolete.

...to me the air is almost 50% heavier, could handle a larger 1440x900 retina screen, is physically larger, and no dongles are required...
Is the air more 'pro' in ways than the 13" pro? ie. much better connectivity esp. legacy environments, upgradable storage, etc ?
For the ultimate in portability would the macbook still appeal to that market more than the air ?

macxpress

king editor the grate said:

macxpress said:

rogifan_new said:

If Apple keeps the MBA name and adds a retina screen to it they’d basically be admitting the rMB is a failure and there would be zero reason for it to exist. This device would also cannibalize sales of the rMBP sans TouchBar. My guess is either Apple is working on a cheaper rMB that maybe doesn’t have as good of a display as the current rMB models do.

Keeping the Air around is nuts and just makes their laptop lineup very confusing. They need to go back to Steve’s grid of consumer/pro, desktop/laptop and stop confusing the lineup by keeping old products around or (creating new ones) just to fit certain price points. Keep it simple stupid. And if they have to give up some margin to take on Google in the classroom then do it. The last thing Apple should want is students being all in on the Google ecosystem.

Apple has made education only Macs before. I know it pisses people off sometimes because its something they want and can't have ... 

I married a teacher and have enjoyed her education discount on occasion. Anyone desiring an education-only Mac should follow suit. Only downer is that I've got it bad, got it bad (got it bad), I'm hawt for teacher.

This is kind of an unknown thing (maybe not?), but technically anyone can get an educational discount. All you have to do is select Shop For College on the bottom of Apple's website and all of the prices are reduced. I've never heard of Apple actually checking to see if you are an actual student. If you go to a retail store then yes, they may verify but never online. I guess they use the honor system. 

Educational discounts are for Macs only and AppleCare+ for Mac. iOS devices, AppleTV's, HomePod, etc are not discounted nor are they in any retail store.