Mar 22, 2017 09:47 AM EDT By Lucy McClaren, UniversityHerald Reporter

Apple has quietly announced its newest iPad, the 2017 iPad 9.7-inch retailing for only for $349 as entry-level, the lowest price tag for a tablet of this size. The folks at Cupertino is aiming to encroach on Google Chromebook's territory on education by making the price of the new iPad much more competitive.

The 2017 iPad 9.7-inch is not the successor to the iPad Air 2, which will now be discontinued along with the iPad Mini 2. The new iPad does share a lot of the specs and features of the iPad Air 1 and iPad Air 2 as well as the iPhone 6s though no new cutting edge technology is featured given the current pricing. Nonetheless, the new iPad delivers sufficient specs for many of the applications making it a relevant addition to the tablet market that has been declining in recent years. The latest product from Cupertino will most likely not reverse the current trend but it will soften the blow and give the more powerful iPad Pro lineup time to upgrade.

The externals of the 2017 iPad 9.7-inch are copied from the 2013 iPad Air 1 sharing equal dimensions and even weight. It is thicker than the iPad Air 2 at 7.5mm. In terms of display, it is also like the iPad Air 1 so it does not have the fully laminated display of the iPad Air 2 and its anti-reflective coating as well. It still does boast of a stunning Retina display with 2,048x1,536 IPS LCD display.

Under the hood, the 2017 iPad 9.7-inch model shares the Apple A9 system-on-chips seen in the iPhone 6s, as reported by AnandTech. It is also expected to have 2GB of RAM and will come in two storage variants, namely, the 32GB and the 128GB with an additional $100. It sports the same camera setup of the iPad Air 2 with an 8MP rear-facing and 1.2MP front-facing cameras but will have a beefier battery with 324 Watt-hour that delivers a 19 percent boost. Apple actually advertises for 10 hrs battery with Wi-Fi.

By again "underpricing" another product like it did with the AirPods and Apple Watch, Apple is positioning itself into the territory of the Google Chromebooks or enticing more users into its ecosystem. The 2017 iPad 9.7-inch may soon make its own inroads to K-12 and market the new iPad for education use, Forbes reported. If it fails to do that since many Chromebooks can be purchased in bulk for about $200, then it could still fill the gap left by the lack of innovations in the tablet market before a revamped iPad Pro 2 lineup arrives. The new iPad may be pre-ordered on March 24 and shipping will commence the week after including to retail stores.

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