The tech giant Apple is all set to make a move by hosting an education-based event in Chicago. The company is expected to announce and launch a full-size iPad centered exclusively for students. The upcoming iPad model is expected to be a low-cost model which is even assumed to be cheaper than the 2k17 model that started at $329(roughly priced at Rs. 24,000 in India). The new model is aimed to compete with affordable or pocket-friendly devices: Windows laptops and Google Chromebooks, which holds a strong grip in the education sector in the United States. There is news which suggests that this latest iPad model might be coming with a support for the Apple Pencil stylus.
According to the Ming-Chi Kuo, KGI Securities analyst, the guy who holds a reliable track record of all the Apple leaks, the new iPad model with 9.7-inch display will likely support the Pencil feature.This will help the company to distinguish its new model from the low-cost Android tablets available in the market.He even made claims about the fact that the upcoming 9.7-inch iPad model will add for 70 % of all the iPads shipped in the year 2018. Also, in the year 2017, the $329 iPad model added to the company’s fortune and helped the company beat the market expectations as it sold nearly 43.8 million units against the expectations of 35 million units. The credits are given to the affordable pricing and large display as stated by Kuo. The upcoming model is expected to witness mass production in the second quarter of the year 2018.
As per the news from the rumor mill, the upcoming 9.7-inch iPad model 2018 is expected to be priced at $259 (roughly Rs. 17,000). The buyers might have to pay another $99 (roughly Rs. 6,500) for the Apple Pencil.It is not clear yet whether the company will come up with a new plan to launch a cheaper version of its stylus as well. Also, the reports from MacRumors suggest that there are chances of an additional keyboard to go with the new iPad but that would add to the device’s cost.
The invitations released by the Apple media clearly showed the company’s logo made using the Pencil, which somewhere dropped a hint towards the big change which might be noticed in the upcoming iPads. If anything like this happens, then mark my words-“This 2018 iPad model will become the first non-Pro model which will have Pencil support so far.” This move will surely affect the company’s sale numbers as the new model will give significant rise to the sale of the Apple-made stylus, as it will be handy to use for the students in classrooms.
KGI Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo further added that the company may also extend Pencil support for iPhones in the coming years with screen size being enlarged. Take a sigh of relief iPhone buyers, this feature won’t be included in the coming 2018 models. Now, coming to the iPad Pro news, he added that the Apple is expected to launch new Pro models with features like TrueDepth camera system around Quarter 3 2018. The launch will be scheduled somewhere around the month of September or October.