Apple's New Low-Cost iPad Will Reportedly Debut Next Week At Education-Focused Event

Not much is known about the new iPad, other than the fact that it will take the place of the current 9.7-inch iPad, which is priced from $329 with 32GB of onboard storage and is powered by an Apple A9 processor. Given that this iPad will be at the low-end of the tablet family, don't expect to see any high-end features like Face ID, which made its debut on the iPhone X to replace Touch ID. We can expect for the device to adopt a newer Apple processor; perhaps the A10, but probably not the A11 processor that's used in Apple's 2017 iPhone devices (iPhone X/iPhone 8/iPhone 8 Plus).

One big unknown, however, is price. $329 is already relatively cheap for an iPad, but if Apple is really looking to make a run at Google in the classroom, it's going to need to go even lower. It's not out of the realm of possibility for the new iPad to debut at $299, which is a price that the iPad can frequently be found at when on sale (or even lower if retailers are feeling especially frisky). Chromebooks can readily be had for $200 to $250, and schools no doubt receive discounts for placing large orders. Apple isn't known for trying to compete on price, but price is often a key factor in cash-strapped school districts when selecting hardware for students and faculty.

The event at the Lane Technical College Prep High School will mark the first time since 2012 that Apple has launched a product specifically aimed at the education market.