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Schools Are Ditching Chromebooks For MacBooks By the Thousands (9to5mac.com) 167

Apple says its lower-cost MacBook Neo is beginning to displace Windows laptops and Chromebooks in K-12 schools, with several districts purchasing thousands of units. According to the company's latest earnings call, nearly half of the large MacBook Neo purchases made by U.S. educational institutions last quarter reportedly replaced competing platforms. 9to5Mac reports: Apple's commentary highlighted some large district deployments moving to Neo Pinellas County Schools, one of the largest districts in Florida, which is moving its 25k students off Windows and onto MacBook Neo across its 18 high schools. In Washington, Peninsula School District 401 moved over its 8,000 students from Chromebooks to MacBook Neo. Midwest City-Del City School District in Oklahoma purchased more than 6,000 MacBook Neos to become an all-Apple district for students.
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Schools Are Ditching Chromebooks For MacBooks By the Thousands

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  • Whyyy??? (Score:2, Funny)

    by angryman77 ( 6900384 )
    To make kids dumber, but at Apple rates?
    • Compared to the cost of equivalent chromebooks the Neo makes a compelling value IMHO, and has a lot more cases and shells and such to protect them already than almost any model of Chromebook ever did so more likely to survive the school year.

      Like I'm all in on x64 between the Windows and Linux computers sitting around me, but even I picked up a Neo instead of a chromebook after trying one, they're shockingly competent and nowhere near as locked down as a chromebook is.

      • >>and nowhere near as locked down as a chromebook is.
        Besides a web browser, what apps are a k12 student going to want to install?

        • by shilly ( 142940 )

          Dunno about the US, but my daughter’s iPad for school sees regular use of Teams, Messages, Notes, the camera, Word. That’s off the top of my head, I’m sure there’s a bunch of other apps. For sure, she uses an app that allows her to create flashcards for her revision. Her econ and science friends will be using Excel and maybe a stats app too. I don’t think it would be particularly different if the school had given out / mandated Neos instead of iPads, except that the camera woul

          • Which of those can't be done in a web browser?

            • by shilly ( 142940 )

              Where did I claim that they couldn’t be done in a web browser? Oh that’s right, I didn’t. I just answered the question of which apps students might use besides a web browser. The fact that these things *can* be done in a web browser is not the same as saying students *want* to do them in a web browser. Because students are normal young human beings rather than angry tech people on Slashdot, they typically prefer to use apps to browsers for many of these services. Not least because it means

              • Because students are normal young human beings rather than angry tech people on Slashdot, they typically prefer to use apps to browsers for many of these services. Not least because it means they can work offline, eg my daughter can look over and edit her notes on the tube home without worrying about the wifi dropping in and out.

                Mic drop. Cymbal crash!

                The guy you are arguing with will move the goalposts with every post you make. He'll be pissed at the Apple one button mouse by the time you're done with him.

                And while I don't have completely up to date knowledge on the Chromebooks, I do know that MacBooks have a marked tendency to run reliably

            • Which of those can't be done in a web browser?

              Your goalpost not only has wheels, it's got a hemi in it.

    • Dont worry, socialmedia and tribalism make sure that no matter the OperatingSystem and hardware, the kids are already plenty dumb even before they enter the dystopian school system...

  • by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Monday August 03, 2026 @06:06PM (#66271212)
    Apple made these to use up the backlog of slightly defective processors.
    • I'm assuming you mean they were binned with fewer cores.

      I guess they are "slightly defective" in the same way an Epyc 9115 is a slightly defective 9965.

    • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Apple used up their backlog of processors. It's why Neo shipment times have turned into months - Apple was shocked by how many people wanted the computers and sold way more in the first month than they expected to ever sell.

      As a result their supply of processors has dried up.

      • by Guspaz ( 556486 )

        I went to Apple's website and looked at the delivery time for the base macbook neo. The estimated delivery date is two days. The higher-end model, two weeks. The backlog certainly isn't months.

      • Apple used up their backlog of processors. It's why Neo shipment times have turned into months

        False. Not a single NEO config I select on Apple.com has more than a 3 day delivery to my address.

        When you have to lie to make your point, its time to make some tough decisions in life. Will you forever push your false agenda and false narrative?

    • by Guspaz ( 556486 )

      They've already ordered a new production run of the chips. Yes, that costs a bunch more than using the old binned chips.

  • Shitty Trade (Score:2, Interesting)

    Trading shit for more expensive shit is a crappy use of tax payer money.

    Worse still is that studies show what we knew all along. Giving a laptop or iPad to every kid does not improve their education. In fact, the studies show them to be detrimental to the child's learning.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Worse still is that studies show what we knew all along. Giving a laptop or iPad to every kid does not improve their education. In fact, the studies show them to be detrimental to the child's learning.

      Yep. I had that suspicion 25 years ago when I was involved a related EU project. All the senior people with actual teaching experience involved though pretty much the same. Most of the others had a no-proof "Technology makes everything better!" mindset, which I found quite problematic. Turns out that intuition was pretty much correct and the senior folks with teaching experience had it all right. (I did not have a lot of teaching experience back then.)

    • by devnulljapan ( 316200 ) on Monday August 03, 2026 @07:58PM (#66271372)
      I work in IT in K12, and we've been looking at these because the unit price is the same or *lower* than the crappy Lenovos we've been giving the kids for years with all the new price hikes this year. That, and they're better machines for the money. They're looking for close to a grand now for a crappy Lenovo 100w with 8GB RAM that was $400 a couple of years ago.
      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Apple will keep jacking up prices too, due to AI taking all the RAM and flash.

        But isn't this a massive upheaval and cost for you? Switching from managing Chromebooks to Macbooks, switching software suites, dealing with all the different IT problems that arise from MacOS etc?

  • by hwstar ( 35834 ) on Monday August 03, 2026 @06:16PM (#66271234)

    I smell a rat.

    There are numerous problems with this as mentioned in prior posts, but the major one for me is our kids will now only be able and/or want to use Apple products and will whine when presented with another compute platform. This can be called "Platform Spoiling".

    • It's nothing new. Apple has been doing this to our gradeschools since the 80's. When you have any organization that's severely underfunded for a long amount of time, its key participants become increasingly susceptible to bribery.

      ...but the major one for me is our kids will now only be able and/or want to use Apple products...

      It's not as though giving them Windows laptops, Chromebooks, or even Texas Instruments graphing calculators has a fundamentally different effect in that regard. Any company allowed to do this is effectively buying the next generation of consumers at a bargain price. That's why it s

      • Most schools lost interest in Apple when PCs became usable, around Windows 2000.

        • by shilly ( 142940 )

          I don’t think Apple ever sold to “most” schools, but it’s always had a sizeable education business, and it was estimated at around $14bn in 2025 (including higher ed).

          • by necro81 ( 917438 )

            I don’t think Apple ever sold to “most” schools

            I'm old enough to remember when most schools had a "computer lab", and every box was an Apple IIe.

        • Most schools lost interest in Apple when PCs became usable, around Windows 2000.

          And now with Windows 11, the Windows devices stretch the "useable" concept.

          And I have teaching classes to verify that. Multiple classes where no class had everything working at the same time. Spent every class "fixing" multiple computers. I even went to running the software involvedon my Mac after I got nuked by an update that moved files to onedrive that had to be on the laptop. I deactivated onedrive, Windows activated it again. Had a lot of pissed off students, and they wanted me to teach a linux ver

    • by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      I smell a rat.

      Not sure anyone is having to provide an incentive. While in small quantities, old models of Chromebook might cost as little as $200 on sale, chances are good that schools are spending more like $400 to $500 on average for their devices.

      At just $600 for the Neo (the current educational price), the cost difference is minimal now. And if your teachers are already using Macs, that's one fewer platform to support. And if the hardware lasts longer (to be determined), then that could easily make up the remainin

      • I checked out the specs for the Neo and it looks a lot better than your average student Chromebook. The screen is 500 nits of brightness, 16 hour battery, an aluminum enclosure. Plus it can run apps that aren't resident in the browser, a much more flexible machine.

        • Is that a good thing? It's one of the advantages of a Chromebook, iinm...well, it was before they added android support.

        • Chromebooks also run any App, outside of the browser.
          Or how exactly do you get an IDE on it?

          I used a Chromebook for 4months or so. Everything on it is a standard unix/linux application. The only fucking problem is: you can not give it a name. They all are called "Pinguin" - how retarded is that?

          # ping 192.168.0.111
          hostname resolved: Pinguin
          64 bytes from Pinguin icmp_sec=1 ttl=64 time=0.04ms

          # ping 192.168.0.109
          hostname resolved: Pinguin
          64 bytes from Pinguin icmp_sec=1 ttl=64 time=0.04ms

          All the farking Chrome

    • If one platform is more attractive, i.e. âoespoilsâ users, isnâ(TM)t that mean better by market standards?

    • It would be interesting to know what the numbers look like in terms of schools that are actually doing something at least modestly Apple-specific vs. ones basically reusing chromebook-focused plans on Apple hardware.

      Anything you hand out is going to be 'a platform' and normalize it for the students(not necessarily a point in its favor; people tend to resent the deliberate limitations of hardware that IT has been told to at least try to make less useful for porn and cheating); but there is a potential dif
      • Apple is now genuinely competitive even if you are just going to slap managed chrome on there and reuse your existing, chromebook focused, IT and curriculum stuff.

        And much less need for IT. Although Chromebooks didn't need as much IT staff as say - Windows.

    • by gtall ( 79522 )

      Well that, but Jobs said it best: MS has no taste. I would add, Google even less so.

    • Unlike Microsoft Office of course. That wasn't pushed at all on schools with very heavy discounts and the option to also buy heavily discounted for home use.

      /sarcasm off

      • Unlike Microsoft Office of course. That wasn't pushed at all on schools with very heavy discounts and the option to also buy heavily discounted for home use.

        /sarcasm off

        We had it, then Microsoft took it away.

  • by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Monday August 03, 2026 @07:10PM (#66271292)

    Because the big advantage of Chromebooks is that they are generic and you can even turn an older laptop into one. If it is all web-based, it may not matter that much as well.

    • Only the stuff you do in a browser is web based - obviously.
      Antigravity, VC Code, Android Studio, git, bash, all standard ordinary programs.
      Why would they be web based?

    • by necro81 ( 917438 )

      you can even turn an older laptop into one

      If it's school-issued, then they aren't repurposed old laptops, so that everyone is on the same platform.

      If it is all web-based, it may not matter that much as well.

      Indeed: what does it matter if the kids are running google docs or Office-365 on a Macbook Neo?

      • you can even turn an older laptop into one

        If it's school-issued, then they aren't repurposed old laptops, so that everyone is on the same platform.

        Exactly. In a student environment the devices need to be as close to identical as possible, Which BTW, in my recent classes, W11 machines supposedly on the same computers, are not the same.

        If it is all web-based, it may not matter that much as well.

        Indeed: what does it matter if the kids are running google docs or Office-365 on a Macbook Neo?

        I'd be surprised if the Macs do not allow local use. Of course, they could always use Apache Office, and trim some more costs.

  • Hook'em while they're young!
  • by Pollux ( 102520 ) <speter.tedata@net@eg> on Monday August 03, 2026 @07:52PM (#66271366) Journal

    Apple released the Neo at just the right time, at the right price, right when the market was stressed and looking for answers.

    I've been ordering Chromebooks for my district for eleven years. Prices hit an all-time low of $227 per unit back in summer 2021. Since then, prices trended up for me year after year. Last year's units were $297. This year's were quoted to me in April at $430 each. I was able to find new-in-box 2025 models for $330 each and went with those instead. I was also warned that, if I ordered Chromebooks, it might take months before they would arrive. I have a neighboring school district that placed an order, then had it cancelled two months later because Dell couldn't fulfill the order. (There are supplies of Dell Chromebooks to be found, but at the moment, Dell is prioritizing supplying its biggest vendors like CDW. Meanwhile, many districts in my area typically order through smaller in-state vendors who aren't getting the same priority from Dell.)

    The market is stressed this summer; supplies are low and difficult to find. Supplies that are available are 50% - 80% higher in price than last year. Apple comes along and says "You can buy an educational laptop right now for $500", and hell yea, the fish are gonna bite. It has nothing to do with people suddenly falling in love with Apple, and everything to do with constrains in the marketplace.

    And I have no love for Apple either. Don't forget that schools have been begging Apple for a decade to release a $500 student laptop, and all Apple did was thumb their noses at us every single year. Why did they decide they now they need to release a $500 student laptop? It's only because they've been losing business to Chromebooks for a decade.

    • Why did they decide they now they need to release a $500 student laptop? It's only because they've been losing business to Chromebooks for a decade.

      Even worse than that, it's probably only because they had a bunch of chips that wouldn't bin out as higher spec parts, and they wanted to use them up, so they will probably do a rugpull sooner or later.

  • by hadleyburg ( 823868 ) on Monday August 03, 2026 @08:11PM (#66271380)

    The MacBook Neo was indeed a pretty appealing prospect. Quite useable for most people, and cheaper than a MacBook Air.

    But - At the end of June Apple increased prices, and the cost of a Neo increased by around 15%. That soured the appeal somewhat. Even if it is still objectively worth considering, a prospective buyer would feel like they had lost out.

    • The MacBook Neo was indeed a pretty appealing prospect. Quite useable for most people, and cheaper than a MacBook Air.

      But - At the end of June Apple increased prices, and the cost of a Neo increased by around 15%. That soured the appeal somewhat. Even if it is still objectively worth considering, a prospective buyer would feel like they had lost out.

      Not really surprising the prices increased, and they probably will again soon enough. Their "binned" chip supply (which were otherwise unavailable for product use, so closer to free to Apple) being used in the Neo had been mostly exhausted. and the price of memory has only gone up over the months (thank you AI data center build out). While Apple may try to keep the price increases low (for all their iDevices) for a bit (where low may be *only* 15-20%), Apple is not going to absorb all of the cost increase

  • I think if I was a school administrator, I would prefer the Chromebook, unless the pupils were going to use the machines for programming (or something best done on the machine rather than remotely from the machine).

    For tasks like collaborating on a Google spreadsheet, or video conferencing, Chromebooks are great. And the administration is a dream.

    MacBooks are great hardware and design, but the long suffering school IT folk would find themselves with more troubleshooting work.

    • On a Chromebook, you use standard IDEs for programming: on the machine.
      The only things remote are git(hub/lab), or a server onto you want to deploy.

      MacBooks are great hardware and design, but the long suffering school IT folk would find themselves with more troubleshooting work.

      Unlikely. They simply have no troubles to shot. No idea where this misconception is coming from, they run as solid as any other unix machine.

      • On a Chromebook, you use standard IDEs for programming: on the machine. The only things remote are git(hub/lab), or a server onto you want to deploy.

        MacBooks are great hardware and design, but the long suffering school IT folk would find themselves with more troubleshooting work. Unlikely. They simply have no troubles to shot. No idea where this misconception is coming from, they run as solid as any other unix machine.

        As I noted in a post above, I was not an IT guy, but I was assigned support for Macs at my institution. Almost no issues. And when there was, it was usually a drive going bad, maybe a broken mouse. UNIX FTW

    • MacBooks are great hardware and design, but the long suffering school IT folk would find themselves with more troubleshooting work.

      Interesting, I was somehow assigned IT for our institutions Macs, several hundred of them. I got perhaps 2 calls a month, many months with no calls.

      Meanwhile, Windows support had an entire division of support people who we busy 8 hours a day, even performing digital triage at times.

      Now that's a comparison that's just a comparison, if you are correct about Chromebooks needing less IT than Macs, perhaps the IT departments could just disband. If a kid has a computer problem, just buy them a new one - che

  • by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 ) on Monday August 03, 2026 @08:53PM (#66271430) Homepage

    Charities across the US hold backpack drives each year, to provide supplies to students who can't afford them. Teachers very commonly also buy supplies out of their own pockets.

    Median pay for teachers is $65K per year

    Maybe we should put more money into the basics, instead of fancy computers (of any brand).

  • At least, in terms of our terrible American public education system. This is not the solution, and it's pathetic that the schools think this is worth the money and will solve our childhood education crisis - yes, it is a crisis.
    • Chromebooks are cheap and easy to replace and manage. I have no idea why anyone want to replace them with iPads.
  • by Budenny ( 888916 ) on Tuesday August 04, 2026 @04:41AM (#66271702)

    The laptop line seems to have great hardware, and I would buy it in a flash, except that I don't want what I see as an awful OS - not so much the OS itself, but the restrictions and app choices it ties you into. I know Apple enthusiasts see this differently, but I just don't understand their enthusiasm for the company.

    Don't much like Windows either as OS, but sometimes for some purposes you need it, and it runs very nicely in a VM for those occasiona, and otherwise keeps out of the way.

    When they let you run Linux on an Apple machine in the same way you can load Debian or whatever onto an HP or Dell, I'll buy, but the whole spirit of the company is antithetical to that -- which is why I'll never buy one as things are, and they are not going to change.

    Pity about the hardware, but there you go. Some compromises are just not worth it, and they want and always have wanted too much. Whether its as in the past buying inferior hardware to get an OS you wanted, or as now, buying an OS you don't want in order to get desirable hardware, the price is always too high and the compromise too great..

    • The laptop line seems to have great hardware, and I would buy it in a flash, except that I don't want what I see as an awful OS - not so much the OS itself, but the restrictions and app choices it ties you into. I know Apple enthusiasts see this differently, but I just don't understand their enthusiasm for the company.

      I have a Windows VM on My Mac mini, so I can run whatever I need. The exorbitant price? 500 dollars. And the M4 Chip is a lot faster than my recently bought Lenovo.

      You really don't need to understand my enthusiasm. I use all three major OS', I can make my own decisions as to which one I use at any given time. Mostly MacOS, mainly because I like it best, the Linux machines because they are fun. and the nice shiny Windows machine so I keep current on the myriad of fixes needed that I might need to address.

  • No longer will schools waste money paying over the odds and be stuck inside an exclusive commercial trap.
  • by bferrell ( 253291 ) on Tuesday August 04, 2026 @11:28AM (#66272232) Homepage Journal

    Apple is trying to go back to it's roots
    Was time, when you went into a school, the computers you saw, were apple.

    Then Jobs and his Gucci/Yves St Laurent thinking came in.

You will have a head crash on your private pack.

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