Apple is having an event this month to “hear creative new ideas for teachers and students,” according to an invitation released to the media Friday.
The event will be held at a Chicago high school on March 27 at 10 a.m, according to the invitation, which said, “Let’s take a field trip.”
While the invite was thin on details, the event would fall in line with recent initiatives within the company. Apple has always had strong partnerships with schools and universities but has expanded in recent years to support coding education programs and education for young women.
Apple’s “Everybody Can Code” program, focused on mobile apps, recently expanded to 70 colleges and universities in Europe. The iPhone maker announced a major partnership in January to fund 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai’s women’s education advocacy.
Last year, CEO Tim Cook said AR has “broad mainstream applicability across education, entertainment interactive gaming, enterprise and categories we probably haven’t even thought of.”
It is thus rumored that Apple has been working on cheaper MacBooks and iPads.
Reports from Digitimes and reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo both claim that Apple is planning to release a successor to the MacBook Air. The new computer — rumored to be a 13.3-inch “entry-level” MacBook with a 2560 x 1600 resolution Retina Display — is also said to be priced somewhere in the $799 to $899 range, making it perfect for students. Apple has also been working to transition the iPad into a classroom tool for educators for the past several years, with recent rumors claiming that the company could release an entry-level 9.7-inch iPad priced around $259, which is even cheaper than the current $329 model.
Some are speculating that the hand-drawn graphic is hinting at an announcement in which the iPad and Apple Pencil will play a role.
While details about the event are unknown yet, one thing is for certain – it will be in the limelight.
