Apple goes back to school!

And with updated tech too for students

It may be Spring Break (and with summer just around the corner), but Apple surprised everyone by having a “field trip” at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago for special announcements.

From the iPhone X late last year, the Cupertino giant went back to its roots: helping with education.

Read the rundown below!

Apple highlighted how the iPad and the different apps have helped students throughout the years. To add, they also said a popular choice is the 9.7-in iPad released last year.

To take it up a notch: the tech-giant announced a refreshed and more powerful 9.7-in iPad that now also supports the Apple Pencil.

It uses Retina display with 2048×1536 resolution and powered by Apple’s A10 Fusion chip to aid in multi-tasking and graphic needs on the tablet. The tablet’s price starts $329 for consumers while schools can buy it at $299.

And the tablet is available now!!!

Although the Apple Pencil costs $99, there is some good news: Logitech released an alternative called Crayon that’s priced at $49.

On the software front, Apple also announced updated apps for a more engaging experience for students. To name a few: they gave a sneak peak to Smart Annotation for Pages for commenting and editing papers.

Also, bringing Digital Book Creation to the iPad that can be customized by the users with images videos and drawings with the Apple Pencil. The latter can also be shared with others for collaboration. There is Boulevard AR where students can view museums and paintings up close and Froggipedia where everyone can check and dissect a frog without hurting real one.

It’s “more powerful than virtually every chromebook” was said during the presentation (pretty much an answer to the Chromebook garnering 60% of new machines in schools last year vs Apple)

For Shared iPads, students just tap their name and picture on the tablet to open their account. When they log off, the iPad will be ready for the next student who’ll use it.

Another highlight coming from the event is increasing the iCloud storage for every Apple managed ID from 5GB to 200GB!

While the Classroom app for teachers is available on iPad and will be available on Mac as beta in June, there’s also a brand new app called Schoolwork that will be available in June. Here you can place handouts, check student progress and integrate apps like a worksheets.

There was also emphasis on keeping all data private (i.e. only teachers can see the progress). Apple’s passion about security in all their devices was a recurring theme in the event.

This all sounds great! Will you buy one for your child? Or one for YOU?… it’s still quite hefty price

Not to worry as we’ve got you covered! Our existing screen protector for the iPad 9.7 will also fit the new 2018 model and (like the new model) it’s available now!

As promised, Tech Armor will always have your back! 😉

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