Apple held its first event of 2018 this morning in Chicago, Illinois, at the Lane Tech College Prep High School. The event's unusual location was due to the fact that it focused on education, marking Apple's first education-oriented event since 2012.
The main draw of the event was a new low-cost iPad with Apple Pencil support, but Apple also announced several other education-focused initiatives for teachers and students. The full event spanned over an hour, but we've recapped everything that's worth knowing in the three minute video below.
Apple didn't live stream the event this morning, but after it was finished, the company shared a full video, so if you want to watch it from start to finish, you can do so on Apple's Events website or through the Events app on the Apple TV.
There were also a few other unannounced surprises that popped up on Apple's site after the event, like new iPhone and iPad cases, new Apple Watch bands, and a Space Gray Magic Keyboard, Trackpad, and Mouse, which were previously exclusive to the iMac Pro.
As with all Apple events, MacRumors provided a live blog and extensive coverage, all of which is listed below so you can catch up if you missed anything:
Hardware
- Apple Launches New 9.7-Inch iPad With Apple Pencil Support, $299 for Schools and $329 for Consumers
- Logitech Announces $49 Crayon Stylus and $99 Rugged Combo 2 Case for 9.7-Inch iPad
- New Logitech Crayon is Compatible Only With Sixth-Generation iPad
- Apple Now Selling Standalone Space Gray Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, and Magic Trackpad 2
- New 9.7-Inch iPad Hands-On: 'Very Familiar' Update Benefits From Apple Pencil Support and A10 Fusion Chip
- Apple Debuts New iPhone and iPad Cases, Launches New Apple Watch Bands
- AppleCare+ Price Reduced to $69 for 9.7-Inch iPad and iPad Mini Models
Software
- Apple Updating iWork for iOS: Pages, Numbers and Keynote Get Book Creation and Apple Pencil Support on 9.7-Inch iPad
- Apple Announces 'Classroom' Coming to Mac, Reveals New 'Schoolwork' App for Educators
- Apple Increases Free iCloud Storage for Students to 200GB
- Apple Announces Free 'Everyone Can Create' Curriculum for Teachers
- Apple Updates Clips and GarageBand on iOS With New Educational Features
- iWork Apps for Mac and iOS Updated With New Features, Apple Pencil Support on iPad
We'll be sharing additional details on the new iPad with Apple Pencil support throughout this week and next, so make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors. For more details about the new iPad, make sure to check out our iPad roundup, which will be updated later today.
Top Rated Comments
But hey, we have new watch bands! That’s more important than all of the products mentioned above. Thanks, Tim! :rolleyes:
$249 for schools and $299 for "regular" users would make more sense.
Pencil $49 for schools and $69 for all others.
IMHO.
Was not disappointed. :rolleyes:
The whole event could've taken 3 minutes, too.
Even the new watchbands are YAWN. Seriously what’s coming out of a company the size of Apple these last 6 years?It was too long not really to announce anything much. It's not that this stuff isn't cool, it's more like Apple should have been very clear that they weren't going to talk about anything that was not school-related.
As it were, they already let slip that they had more accessories coming (cases, watch bands, etc) and this made people think they were FINALLY going to release the AirPower and the Qi case for the AirPods.
Apple is bigger than Google and for Google it isn’t even its core business. It seems google is razor focused and Apple has lost the way. Apple is hyping future products like the airpad and by the time it sees finally daylight, most competitors already have better, cheaper comparable products.
It’s time a good visionary leader with more passion for tech than profits shows the way.