Apple’s new, cheaper iPad is very, very familiar

A processor bump and Apple Pencil support

The new iPad is very familiar. It has the same basic 9.7-inch screen size, bezels, Touch ID sensor, button placement, and cameras. The big new features are Apple Pencil support, which works the same as it did on the iPad Pro, and an update to the A10 processor. As with the previous iPad, it has 10 hours of battery life, an 8-megapixel rear camera that supports 1080p video, a front-facing FaceTime HD camera, supports optional LTE, and weighs one pound. Interestingly, there is no Smart Keyboard connector, which seems like a big omission.

Holding and using the iPad, it feels very much like an iPad! The air gap on the screen is the same as before — large by iPad Pro standards, but only iPad Pro people will really turn their nose up at it. Same goes for the screen overall, which doesn’t have all the True Tone magic of the Pro, but is nevertheless vibrant and responsive.

I checked out a quick demo of an AR classroom app and it was as good as any AR demo I’ve seen. Not knock-your-socks-off good, but it didn’t lag and the baby elephant stayed put right on the table where it was placed. Obviously we’ll need to spend more time to say for sure, but the A10 Fusion processor certainly seems up to most tasks.

The demo areas here at Lane Tech aren’t really focused on the hardware, instead it’s a ton of different software demos all focused on the classroom. That makes perfect sense for the kind of event this is meant to be. Tim Cook is making the rounds, looking at drones and AR and various other experiments, and there are lots of kids in tow with him. Going to an event that’s all about experiences instead of speeds and feeds of hardware is admittedly fun, but hard to convey. We’ll try to do that later, after we’ve sat in on a few more sessions.

Also, Lauren Goode was there. Hi Lauren!

The point of the new iPad is Apple’s updated software suite, which includes new versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote that support the Apple Pencil. There’s also much better multiuser support for schools, but not for consumers.

Apple’s less powerful iPad mini 4 is $70 more expensive than the new iPad

It has an A8 chip, no stylus support, and a smaller display

Today, Apple refreshed its iPad lineup with a new 9.7-inch iPad with Pencil support that comes with a student-focused $30 discount. The device is designed to replace last year’s $329 base model iPad, and it sells for that same price to regular consumers. Apple’s race to beat Google in the classroom is a good thing for everyone, resulting in cheaper price points and more options. However, one product category that still remains stubbornly unaffordable in Apple’s new education and accessibility-focused iPad roadmap is the iPad mini 4.

The company’s web store was updated this morning, and the 7.9-inch iPad mini, which came out back in September of 2015, is still being sold for a mind-boggling $399, as pointed out by Business Insider’s Steve Kovach on Twitter. (Granted, you can get it at Best Buy for $300 as of today.) The device comes only with an A8 chip, compared with the much more powerful A10 Fusion in the $329 iPad with Pencil support that came out today. Not only that, but you’re also getting a smaller display that doesn’t support Apple’s stylus or the new cheaper Logitech Crayon stylusannounced at Apple’s iPad event this morning.

THE IPAD MINI 4 HAS ONLY AN A8 CHIP AND COSTS $70 MORE THAN THE NEW IPAD

Apple has been known in the past to keep devices around long past their obvious utility to consumers and advantage over similarly priced but superior products. Take, for instance, the $999 MacBook Air that’s been obviated by the new standard MacBook and similarly priced MacBook Pro or the $499 Mac mini that hasn’t been updated since 2014. The fact is that Apple likely doesn’t want to keep updating the iPad mini 4, but the company might have the hard data to suggest it sells a modest enough amount of units to warrant keeping it from discontinuation.

After all, the device was only introduced back in 2012 — despite Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ infamous reservations about a device that existed too close in size to the iPhone — to meet a very specific and timely slice of the market. Now that the tablet market has contracted, and has only since grown thanks to Apple’s cheaper full-sized iPads, it doesn’t make too much sense to keep investing in 7- or 8-inch models, not with smartphones getting bigger and better every year. Apple might as well sell it until it becomes entirely obsolete, but it doesn’t make sense to keep it at $400.

It should go without saying that buying the iPad mini 4 is not a very sound investment. For $70 cheaper, you get a far superior device with a bigger screen, faster processor, and stylus support. If you’re really clamoring for a small, more portable iPad, you’ll probably be just fine with the outdated components of the mini 4, especially if you just want to read ebooks and watch Netflix. But we live in a world now where full-sized iPads are as cheap, and in this case cheaper, than the mini-sized tablets of a few years ago. So don’t compromise in that regard if you don’t have to.

Apple and Logitech announce $49 Crayon stylus and keyboard case that work with the iPad

The third-party stylus is here

Apple today announced a cheaper, Logitech-made stylus for its iPad family of devices called Crayon. The device, announced onstage at Apple’s iPad-focused education event in Chicago this morning, will cost $49 and join the $99 Pencil in Apple’s current stylus lineup. Alongside the stylus, Apple also announced a new rugged Logitech iPad case and keyboard combo. Logitech says the case will cost $99.99, and both devices will be available this summer in the US and only through Apple’s online education channel. The Verge has confirmed with Apple that the devices are not available to the general public and are for schools only.

Apple’s education event is centered on courting schools, teachers, and students to the iOS ecosystem, particularly as Google ramps up its Chromebook initiative with the announcement of the first-ever Chrome OS tablet (made by Acer) just yesterday. To combat Google’s growing dominance in the classroom, Apple today announced a new cheaper $299 9.7-inch iPad with Pencil support and A10 Fusion chip. ($299 is the student price, with the new iPad with Pencil support costing $329 for everyone else, just like the standard base model 9.7-inch iPad that came out last year.) Presumably, Logitech’s new Crayon stylus will also work on this device.

Update at 1:10PM ET, March 27th: Added pricing for Logitech Rugged Combo 2 case and keyboard and availability info.

Update at 1:35PM ET, March 27th:Confirmed that Logitech’s Crayon stylus and new case are not available to the general public and are for schools only.