Apple Partners With South Carolina to Build Eight Open Access Mac Computer Labs

In partnership with South Carolina's governor and the local community, Apple will be taking part in a $6 million investment to build eight open access Mac computer labs across the state.

2019 imac video
Governor Henry McMaster announced the education initiative at a press conference on Tuesday, saying that the expanded access to broadband and computers will "bolster South Carolina's premier workforce training efforts by giving our communities and people access to resources they need to expand participation in our state's growing economy."

Building on previously announced projects, Apple will work with HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), the South Carolina Technical College System, and the local community directly to strategically build the new labs in places accessible to as many people as possible.

Susan Prescott, Apple's VP of worldwide developer relations and enterprise, says that Apple is a firm believer in education and that equal access to technology is a great equalizer for communities.

"At Apple, we believe education is the great equalizer, and that access to technology is key to learning and workforce opportunities today. We are proud that Apple products and curriculum have been selected by the University of South Carolina and Benedict College for their new education labs. Together, we aim to ensure all South Carolinians have the opportunity to learn, code, create, and grow in new ways."

Specifics on what Macs will be included in the labs are unknown; however, it will be open for use by staff, students, and community members regularly at no cost.

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Expected to Release iOS 18.3 Next Week With These New Features

Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public next week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones. Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3. Notification Summary Changes Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries Apple Intelligence...
Apple Pay Walmart Feature

Walmart Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in the U.S.

Thursday January 23, 2025 7:32 am PST by
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today. A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full Release Notes for iOS 18.3

Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes. The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
truecaller

Truecaller iOS Update Rolls Out Real-Time Caller ID Support

Wednesday January 22, 2025 2:07 am PST by
Popular caller ID app Truecaller is rolling out an update that brings real-time caller ID support to its iOS subscribers. Apple introduced Live Caller ID Lookup in iOS 18, allowing third-party caller ID apps to securely retrieve information about a caller from their servers, hence today's Truecaller update. iPhone users can enable the Live Caller ID Lookup feature by going to Settings ➝ ...
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With Rear Camera Bar Allegedly Shown in Leaked Photo

Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:46 pm PST by
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model. The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Launching This Year With These New Features

Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device. The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
iOS 18

5 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.3

Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
iPhone SE 4 Single Camera Thumb 3

iOS 18.3 Leak Provides Clue About iPhone SE 4, iPad 11, and iPad Air 7 Launch Timing

Wednesday January 22, 2025 9:39 am PST by
New information has surfaced that indicates the rumored iPhone SE 4, iPad 11, and new iPad Air models are nearing launch. A private account on social media platform X today revealed that iOS 18.3 or iPadOS 18.3 will be preinstalled on all of those upcoming devices when they are released. It is still unclear exactly when the devices will launch, but this information suggests that Apple will...

Top Rated Comments

DanGoh Avatar
50 months ago
I’m sorry but do they not have Libraries in South Carolina???
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Captain Trips Avatar
50 months ago
I haven't lived in South Carolina since 1996, but here in the Central Ohio area it seems to be common to provide computers in libraries for public access to people who don't have a computer or internet access from home, or find it more convenient (too many people at home or lot of distraction) to use a computer at a library.

Yes, it would be nice to expand broadband access to homes that don't have it, but that doesn't reduce the value of having publicly / freely accessible computers. One doesn't prevent the other from happening.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swingerofbirch Avatar
50 months ago
Sounds kind of like an Internet cafe (I guess?), which you don't really hear about anymore. A little confusing what this will do. People need help paying for broadband more than computers IMO.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BGPL Avatar
50 months ago
Wonder what they'll use for anti-malware and censorship?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
50 months ago

Yes, it would be nice to expand broadband access to homes that don't have it, but that doesn't reduce the value of having publicly / freely accessible computers. One doesn't prevent the other from happening.
... unless you're AT&T

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/att-lobbies-against-nationwide-fiber-says-10mbps-uploads-are-good-enough/
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BF1M Avatar
50 months ago
Hard to believe but Internet cafes were still a thriving business in some areas pre-Covid. Especially those with high Hispanic populations.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)