A couple of days ago Apple held a press conference where they unveiled a cheaper iPad for the educational market. At $330 (not including the cost for accessories) is this iPad really what you are going to want as a feasible priced device for students?
Honestly this is going to appeal to those in the Apple ecosystem. With many devices part of our decision making is influenced by the brand. If you are an Apple fan with devices already in the ecosystem then this is going to be the device that will appeal to you. And if you were already looking to buy an iPad, this will provide some of the features of the iPad Pro (the pen feature) at a much cheaper price. And at 9.7 inches it will be more comfortable to hold and manage for day to day usage. Though this will not be the device to replace your computer it will be a feature rich tablet that is one of the best at that price point.
If you are not an Apple fan or you are looking for value then you may want to look elsewhere. This iPad is not that much of a step ahead of last year’s iPad mini 4, which is currently priced at $399 for the 128 gig model. Though this is being branded as a cheaper iPad geared toward education, this is really just a rebranded iPad Mini. Lack of expandable storage and a keyboard out of the box will leave the customer either having to pay more for the 128 gig model ($429 + cost of keyboard) or look at a chromebook ($249 and up) which come with a keyboard attached and expandable storage.
If you are looking for a more capable device for the money then the chromebook is the better buy, but if you were in the market for an iPad because of the App Store that is loaded with production apps for music, editing, and education then this is actually on par for what you would expect to pay for an iPad mini.
