Apple Buckling up to Get Back the Grip on Students

Apple’s next splashy product announcement  will be taking place at a magnet high school on the North Side of Chicago. This clearly indicates that Apple isn’t ready to let go of the education market it once dominated.

Though the tech giant has not disclosed what products will be introduced at its event, the hint is that the announcement comes at a crucial time: as many schools are looking to renew or change over the summer their agreements with companies for classroom tech. Tech companies hope that the presence of their products in classrooms will turn students into long-term customers.

Macs and later, iPads used to dominate class rooms once. But recently, Google and Microsoft have overtaken that. Right now, Google is the king in the classroom, owing much to the low cost laptops. Near the end of 2017, Google had shipped about 60 percent of the new technology that U.S. classrooms received, according to the analysis firm FutureSource. 

Google's lead will be hard to shake, given how well it has sold its systems to schools and how accustomed the schools have become to Google products. Many school districts favor a mix of products, using iPads with younger students and switching to Chromebooks or cheaper Windows laptops as students age and require more computing power or a full keyboard. 

A low-cost laptop, which has also been rumored, would be a tough sell for Apple — even if it slashed the price significantly. 

The company is also expected to revamp its Classroom application, which allows teachers to personalize lesson plans, communicate with parents and closely track student performance.

(Source: The Washington Post)