The problem was price. Also, Education already uses petite Chromebooks and Google's cloud-based solutions. That's basically entirely what Chrome books are for
Apple already does that. Most schools don't use them. They're too expensive and kids need keyboards to do most of their work. If you think about it, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to buy an expensive tablet that needs an additional expensive keyboard purchase that can be lost or stolen more easily when a cheaper device is available with everything built in
The iPhone 5C debacle is the reason I don't fall for any low-cost model rumors anymore.Unapologetically plastic
The rumor was Apple was going to release a low-cost phone with a plastic body. This was well before the first iPhone SE, so there never was a cheap iPhone before. Only ever last year's phone for $100 less. When the 5C and 5S were released at the same day, the 5C was still only $100 less than the 5S, but it missed out on the introduction of TouchID and the A7 chip, Apple's first 64-bit processor. Some people falsly claimed that 64-bit wasn't a big deal and only good for addressing more than 4GB of RAM. But the 5S was literally twice as fast and way more advanced than all iPhones before. It didn't matter whether you liked the design of the 5C better or whether your priority was to buy the cheapest iPhone available. You couldn't possibly justify a purchase of the 5C. The offer was an intelligence test and everyone who bought it failed the test miserably.
CB are easier to repair. If they can't be repaired, there are more on hand since they're lower cost to the point where you can get 2 for every 1 iPad, if not more.
Why bother taking the time to run down to a store when somebody can repair it, get the job done, all without having to leave the premise? And given how many schools use Chromebooks, I'd think for some of them, going to an Apple store or some other authorized retailer would be very far.
Then this just shows why Chromebook won that education sector battle. Repairs are easier on a Chromebook (and according to another post, the maintenance of the device accounts for costs far beyond the initial purchase). It's nice having customer service, but when the product requires much less to not really needing it, then that sort of takes care itself.
I think they will either use that or the M1 / M2 (not pro). They are all faster than any chromebook processors. They're cheap, small, and use very little power.
