The March 2018 Apple event was all about education, as seen with the launch of a new 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support and a lower price tag, as well as a classroom management app dubbed Schoolwork.

The education-focused iPad is very similar to the regular iPad, even if the addition of Pencil support does merit some attention-- after all, the stylus was previously limited to the iPad Pro. Further iPad features include the A10 Fusion chip (the iPad Pro has the A10X), 32GB storage, 8MP rear-facing camera, HD FaceTime camera, compass, GPS and 10 hour battery life. For customers wanting to connect to the internet on the go an LTE version will also be available.

“iPad is our vision for the future of computing and hundreds of millions of people around the world use it every day at work, in school and for play," the company says. "This new 9.7-inch iPad takes everything people love about our most popular iPad and makes it even better for inspiring creativity and learning.”

Customers wanting the Pencil but are unwilling to pay the full price get a lower-cost stylus option-- the Logitech Crayon, offering similar capabilities within a more colourful white and orange look. Also announced by Logitech is a ruggedised iPad case with a keyboard component designed to withstand rough and tumble school environments.

On the software side, Apple has an iWork update adding Pencil support (allowing teachers to mark up documents with the stylus, for instance) and Schoolwork, a classroom management app complete with digital assignment features. In addition, Apple is giving education customers 200GB of iCloud storage for easier attachment of PDFs and projects.

The new iPad is available in a number of European territories now, with more to follow from May 2018. Schoolwork should be available from June 2018.

Go Apple Introduces New 9.7-inch iPad With Apple Pencil Support