Anatolia News Agency reports that Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Apple yesterday as part of a tour of Silicon Valley companies ahead of the country's move to purchase 10.6 million tablets for its schoolchildren. Erdoğan also visited Microsoft's Bay Area outpost and Google during his trip.

erdogan_apple_visit

Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (left) visits Apple

The meeting at Apple was just the latest of numerous interactions between Apple executives and Turkish government officials as Apple seeks to win the massive tablet contract. A number of Apple executives including vice president for education John Couch traveled to Turkey back in February to meet with Turkish president Abdullah Gül, while Gül had visited Apple in May 2012.

Ahead of the education tablet bid, Apple is in the midst of a significant push into the Turkish market, having launched the iTunes Store for music and movies there last December and begun hiring for future retail stores in the country.

(Thanks, Paul!)

Top Rated Comments

69650 Avatar
163 months ago
big deal
bit insulting
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macs4nw Avatar
163 months ago
big deal

A possible big deal, indeed. (Your sarcasm duly noted.)

Just think of the overall ecosystem benefits. If APPLE can be successful with this 'Education Initiative', that would be sensational, not only for the immediate economic windfall to the company, but also as an example to education ministries in other countries, who would no doubt keep a close eye on this 'experiment', and who might follow suit.

If they can convince the Turkish government to go with them, rather than MICROSOFT or GOOGLE, and secure this 'contract', the overall long term benefits of this to APPLE, would be almost incalculable! A brilliant move!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
E.Lizardo Avatar
163 months ago
bit insulting

bit oversensitive
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jrsower Avatar
163 months ago
so i'm guessing that students will also get a free iJihad app on their ipads?:cool:

Really living up to the second part of your screen name...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KieranDotW Avatar
163 months ago
big deal

deal (n): to trade or do business (followed by with or in): eg. to deal with a firm; to deal in used cars

Correct. If Turkey buys 10.6 million iPads from Apple, I suppose you could call that a big deal.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Yamcha Avatar
163 months ago
Good stuff, I think I would've done better in school with tablets. I've seen some of the learning applications, and they are lots of fun to use, and educational at the same time..
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Another Vehicle Brand Gaining iPhone Car Keys Support

Tuesday October 28, 2025 5:27 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to bring support for its digital car key feature to Jetour vehicles, according to evidence uncovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. Introduced in 2022, Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or...