“On March 27, Apple announced an updated version of its low-cost 9.7-inch iPad,” Ashraf Eassa writes for The Motley Fool. “Although there’s a lot of debate as to whether the new iPad can effectively capture both mind-share and market share from Chromebooks in education, there is one way in which Apple’s new iPad is vastly superior to virtually every Chromebook in existence: performance.”
“The Intel chips that typically power Chromebooks are Intel Celeron processors, the lowest-end processors in Intel’s notebook processor product stack,” Eassa writes. “For some perspective, here’s how the A10 Fusion compares to the Intel Pentium N4200 (this is a step up from the typical Celeron processors found in Chromebooks) in CPU tasks as measured by the Geekbench 4 processor test: The A10 Fusion is nearly 2.3 times faster than the Pentium N4200 in single-core performance, and despite having half as many active cores, it also beats the Pentium N4200 by 23.7% in multicore performance. This kind of delta is, to put it mildly, enormous.”
“In graphics performance, the A10 Fusion also dramatically outclasses the Pentium N4200,” Eassa writes. “In the popular 3D Mark Ice Storm performance test, the Pentium N4200 achieves a graphics score of 27,607, while the A10 Fusion achieves a whopping 62,829.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Too bad the only thing too many U.S. public school buyers care about is initial sticker price.
SEE ALSO:
The Verge reviews new entry-level iPad: Apple’s bare minimum still beats everybody else – April 3, 2018
VentureBeat reviews Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPad: ‘OK for schools, great for everyone else’ – April 2, 2018
Apple’s new iPad can only be good news – March 29, 2018
New iPad’s enemy isn’t just Chromebooks, it’s the U.S. public education system – March 28, 2018
Logitech’s Rugged Combo 2 keyboard and case for Apple’s iPad has its own smart connector – March 28, 2018
Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPad offers 2GB of RAM, 2.2 GHz A10 processor – March 28, 2018
How Apple lost its place in the classroom – March 28, 2018
Apple bids for education market with new software, new iPad – March 27, 2018
Apple takes aim at Google Chromebook with $299 iPad with Apple Pencil support for schools – March 27, 2018
Did Apple do enough to grab back education market share? – March 27, 2018
Apple unveils new 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support starting at $329 – March 27, 2018
Apple unveils ‘Everyone Can Create’ curriculum – March 27, 2018
Apple’s iWork update brings drawing, book creation and more to Pages, Numbers and Keynote – March 27, 2018
MacDailyNews presents live coverage of Apple’s March 27th ‘Field Trip’ event – March 27, 2018
Google’s Chromebooks are still spying on grade school students – April 21, 2017
I read in many comments that the competition has the appropriate versatility that students need with the iPad’s superior performance not trumping it.
The advantage Chromebooks have is the lower price and apps and software that are more dedicated for education. Processor power is irrelevant here and the entry level iPads higher price is also makes it unpopular with the powers that control the budgets.
Yes. Regarding performance, for example, a homeowner could get away with using a mere hedge trimmer to trim bushes in her garden while a wood chopper would need a strong and sharp ax.
Yes, let’s give iPads to a bunch of students who can’t remember where they left their text books and can break a bendable ruler the first time they use it. Such a great use of taxpayer’s money.
Yes lets remain in the dark ages instead
Or give them shiny gadgets and create a Digital Dark Age where students’ test scores continue to decline, their vocabulary is stunted because they communicate with emoji, and their attention span in a classroom matches that of a knat.
Only a gnat knows how to mispell gnat
But only a douche would be so quickly anal about spelling on a site where one can’t edit.
Presume innocence, okay?
All that matters to schools is how cheap the devices are to buy. Apple probably doesn’t realize this hard fact. After seeing how Android devices took over 90% of the smartphone market, Apple should be able to grasp how inexpensive devices will always dominate an entire market. Apple will never capture the hearts of budget-minded people.
Apparently, students need physical keyboards to do their work and Apple doesn’t offer them that with iPads. Chromebooks might be boring and underpowered but if they do what’s required then that’s a good thing for schools and students. Apple doesn’t want to compete on price and that’s their decision. A few schools might like and be able to afford Apple’s approach and that’s better than nothing. As long as Apple is unwilling to take financial losses, those Chromebooks will always come out on top in schools.
When I went through school, we didn’t have computers with keyboards in standard classrooms. It’s odd to me that keyboards have become so important for elementary school learning. I would think that the iPads note taking ability with the pencil, dictation ability, and software keyboard are really all that kids should need to record notes/text at their desks in class. A vertical/upright monitor gives kids the opportunity to do things without the teacher being able to see.
Not at the high end schools who are not failing.
Father of a high schooler and middle schooler. This latest announcement from Apple provides no incentive for a school district to switch away from Chromebooks. For one, iPads have no keyboard and that is still the primary interface for writing papers and finishing assignments. Two, Chromebooks beat the iPad on cost and durability. Three, Google’s administration tools and software beat anything Apple has to offer. Not to mention, that software is free. Look at what’s going in Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona, etc. You think school districts care about expensive iPads? They are looking for value.
It’s too bad because I would love for Apple to be competitive in this market and the only way to do so would be to introduce a low cost MacBook combined with robust software for managing a school curriculum and administration of devices. Apple wants to keep pounding a square peg into a round hole.
Exactly. Google’s administration tools and software beat anything Apple has to offer, because from what I’ve read Apple has nothing ! They defer to 3rd party tools. What a joke.
I can’t stress how important device administration & management is and just like me when i want to delete many images from the iPad I better put aside alot of time and prepare to get really frustrated.
Nobody should be surprised that the first thing schools look at is price. Hell, some of them cannot even afford basic necessities like pencils, paper, etc. Why they would buy expensive iPads and accessories seems to have gone over the heads of leadership at Apple.
to tell A Story. Speeds/feeds typically won’t persuade over price. Create a viable, truthful, promising story and price becomes part of the story embraced.
Apple’s story-creators of today are more into the visual-grab, vs. real substance.
Which is why those teachers in some of the red states are up in arms, they are tired of paying for supply’s out of their pockets.
What matters as much if not more than out-of-the-box performance is how well that same machine is performing at the end of the school year.
Apple scores the lowest marks in repairability and believe it or not, relatively poor marks in durability, which is why owners are obligated to buy big fat cases for their iPads. You’d think Apple designers would have this figured out for a product that supposedly they want to put in kids hands.
MDN wake up and get a clue about all that is lacking from Apple.
Schools cringe at the thought of iPads because of the device management headaches.
When a technician / admin type has to deal with iPads one at time, has to delete files images from multiple users one by one, the total cost of ownership skyrockets due to wasted time.
I recommend this: Apple, if you want to win in education, look at what sucks about iPads
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/30/apple_ipad_education/
Wrong:
Apple School Manager is a simple, web-based portal for IT administrators to manage people, devices, and content all from one place. We’ve made big improvements so that it’s ready to go for schools everywhere. There is a redesigned user interface, more powerful ways to manage bulk activities, and greater control over accounts and classes.
https://www.apple.com/education/it/
It is unlikely that most schools will have a exclusively iPad roll-out. They may require admin tools that cover non-iOS devices. I believe Chromebook admin tools also double as Google Classroom administration meaning your hardware may not matter for some aspects of Google’s offerings, making it a ‘better’ option.
My son has had iPad for all 4 years of his private high school including the 12 inch model with key board for his senior year. No issues with apps and administration. The downside is I have paid $500/year “technology fee. Accidentally damaged iPad was replaced without a fee.
Beating a Celeron is nothing to brag about.