The smaller, more affordable iPad Mini might not reach the price of its competition, but Apple is betting the quality of apps will help trounce new tablets from Microsoft, Google and Amazon.
Apple is positioning the $329 tablet as a lower-cost option that could see wider adoption in schools than the full-size, $500 iPad. Along with the new iPad Mini, the company on Tuesday introduced updated software that allows users to create educational textbooks to run on Apple tablets.
Apple said the company has sold more than 100 million iPads since they were introduced in 2010. In Orange County, the devices have been adopted to varying degrees by schools. More than 300 are in use throughout the Irvine Unified School District. UC Irvine gives more than 100 to each new class of medical students. More than 2,100 have been given out at Mater Dei High School – one for every student.
Ian Hanigan, spokesman for Irvine Unified School District, said Apple’s marketplace offers a wide selection of instructional apps and that professional development and support are readily available for the iPad.
“We have about 300 (iPads) and that number is growing rapidly,” Hanigan said. “Only a handful of non-iPads are in use throughout the district. We have tested several alternatives, but we believe the iPad to be the best fit for most of our instructional and administrative needs.”
The new iPad is smaller, lighter and thinner. Apple designed the 7.9-inch screen size and resolution so hundreds of thousands of apps developed for the larger 9.7 inch iPad can work with no modification.
That advantage could prove to be an important differentiating feature in ensuring iPad has high-quality apps as it faces new lower-cost competition. Both Amazon and Google are shipping $200 tablets that could appeal to cost-conscious consumers, businesses and schools.
The new iPad Mini slips into a price pocket between smaller 7-inch tablets from Amazon and Google and new Surface tablets from Microsoft shipping at similar prices to the full-size iPad. The new tablets from Microsoft launch Oct. 26 with long-awaited Windows 8 software.
Apple timed pre-orders for the new iPad Mini for the same day.
Contact the writer: ihamilton@ocregister.com or 949-229-2426
