President Obama Mentions Apple-Backed School Broadband Initiative During State of the Union Address

presidential_seal During his yearly State of the Union address, President Barack Obama mentioned that the Federal Communications Commission, along with tech companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Sprint and Verizon, would be providing the framework needed to connect over 15,000 schools and 20 million students to high-speed Internet over the next two years.

The move is a part of the ConnectED initiative that the President announced back in June, which pledged to connect 99% of students to next-generation, high-speed broadband within five years, at speeds no less than 100 Mbps and with a target of 1Gbps.

Last year, I also pledged to connect 99 percent of our students to high-speed broadband over the next four years. Tonight I can announce that with the support of the FCC and companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sprint, and Verizon, we've got a down payment to start connecting more than 15,000 schools and 20 million students over the next two years, without adding a dime to the deficit.

Apple also provided a statement to The Loop about its role in the ConnectED initiative:

“We are proud to join President Obama in this historic initiative to transform America’s schools,” Apple said in a statement provided to The Loop. “Apple has a long history in education, and we have pledged to contribute MacBooks, iPads, software and our expertise to support the ConnectED project. We look forward to announcing more details with the White House soon.”

An accompanying fact sheet to the State of the Union address [PDF link] also stated that the President will announce "new philanthropic partnerships" with the tech companies mentioned throughout the coming weeks. Apple was also mentioned during last year's State of the Union, with the President lauding the company's move to again build Macs in America.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...

Top Rated Comments

Negritude Avatar
149 months ago
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."
---Dom Hélder Câmara

We should have an education system that is properly funded because of a democratic will to take care of every child, rather than having to applaud the bread and circuses distraction of charity and philanthropy.

If the system were working correctly, we wouldn't need welfare, or any other kind of after the fact handout.

Educate people, feed them, clothe them, put a roof over their heads, give them meaningful work to do, and then your fears of crime and war disappear.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
longofest Avatar
149 months ago
Educate people, feed them, clothe them, put a roof over their heads, give them meaningful work to do, and then your fears of crime and war disappear.

Why is it the government's responsibility to do most of this? I agree that education is a purpose of government, however last time I checked I work to feed myself, I work to buy my clothes, I work to pay the mortgage, and I got my job on my own - I didn't need the government to "give me a meaningful [job] to do".

It is not the government's job to do these things. It is an individual's job to do these things. It is in a government's best interest to provide a temporary lifeline for those that fall on bad times, and to make sure that the capitalistic system cannot be taken advantage of by those in power (read: i'm in favor of advancing minimum wage so that those who do work hard can at least afford the above), but in the end, it is an individual's responsibility to provide the means by which they are to survive unless they do not have the physical or mental capacity to do so.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Winni Avatar
149 months ago
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."
---Dom Hélder Câmara

We should have an education system that is properly funded because of a democratic will to take care of every child, rather than having to applaud the bread and circuses distraction of charity and philanthropy.

If the system were working correctly, we wouldn't need welfare, or any other kind of after the fact handout.

Educate people, feed them, clothe them, put a roof over their heads, give them meaningful work to do, and then your fears of crime and war disappear.

Seriously, this is the most intelligent comment that I have read on Macrumors in months.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cocky jeremy Avatar
149 months ago
Why is this important
Why do you think it isn't?

You just don't get it.

The things you say are straight out of the republican play book.

If you're happy with a country where far too many people are poorly educated and/or can't afford meaningful education, where people have poor jobs, where people can't afford housing, and where crime is prevalent unlike any industrialized nation.

I have questions for you: Is this really your opinion? Is this something that is truly rational and cohesive, in your mind? Or are you simply regurgitating what a large mass of the conservative population thinks they believe?
I'm the furthest thing from a Republican, and the guy is right. None of that is the government's job. People have to learn to take care of themselves. Quit depending on the government to do everything for you. That's how we got in this mess to begin with.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ZZ Bottom Avatar
149 months ago
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."
---Dom Hélder Câmara

We should have an education system that is properly funded because of a democratic will to take care of every child, rather than having to applaud the bread and circuses distraction of charity and philanthropy.

If the system were working correctly, we wouldn't need welfare, or any other kind of after the fact handout.

Educate people, feed them, clothe them, put a roof over their heads, give them meaningful work to do, and then your fears of crime and war disappear.

I like the sound of that, except that you can't legislate people to ignore their nature of greed and envy. The ability to work hard and reap the rewards (not always monetary) is what drives progress. Your utopian world can never work because not every job in society is equal. In who's eyes will it ever be fair to reward a janitor the same as a brain surgeon? Not everyone is intrinsically motivated.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lesser Evets Avatar
149 months ago
... would be providing the framework needed to connect over 15,000 schools and 20 million students to high-speed Internet over the next two years.

Porn.

Cross country sexting.

And a plethora of distractions keeping most kids out of the loop.

I remember something similar back when the iBook was created. It hasn't helped our schools develop better students or academicians. We're slinking down on the world stage, but shoveling money into kitsch-tech which is seen as a magical-pill solution for our ills.

Good for Apple and other tech companies. Good for the big-gov. machine. Bad for 99% of the students and the taxpayers below the salt.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)