Apple Presents New Spring Line-Up of Products for Education Market
CUPERTINO, Calif., Feb. 17 — February 18, 1997 — Apple Computer, Inc. (Nasdaq-NNM: AAPL) today introduced its most comprehensive line-up of new education products in 20 years. Timed to coincide with the key purchase season for schools, Apple's new product portfolio will offer K-12 and higher education customers a broader selection of products, with enhanced multimedia and Internet functionality at extremely competitive price and performance levels.
In addition to adding new PowerBook, professional Power Macintosh, and imaging products (see 2/17/97 press releases for details), Apple will offer new mobile, desktop, tower, and solution products this Spring to meet the diverse needs of educators, administrators, and students.
Apple's new education products include:
— eMate 300, a new class of affordable, mobile computer designed for education by educators;
— Three powerful all-in-one desktop models, the Power Macintosh 5400/180, 5400/200, and 5500/225;
— Two models in a powerful new tower design, the Power Macintosh 6500/225 and 6500/250;
— Three new solution bundles for secondary schools.
"Key to Apple's success in the education market is its ability to offer customers a range of products, solutions and technologies designed to meet their unique needs," said Mike Lorion, vice president, Apple America's Education division. "We believe that the technology tools, training, and support that schools rely on — to foster successful learning and run their institutions — are very different from those deployed in the workplace.
Apple remains committed to creating technology products that enhance the teaching and learning process, as opposed to trying to force-fit business solutions into education."
New Class of Mobil Computer: eMate 300
To extend learning beyond the classroom, students and educators will require a new range of technology tools. Apple's eMate 300 was designed as an affordable mobile computer that can serve as a companion to Mac OS and Windows-based computers in the classroom, school or home.
The eMate 300 weighs less than four pounds, features a rugged "clamshell" design with steel chassis and integrated keyboard, and provides a battery life of up to 24 continuous hours. It features the easy-to-use Newton operating system and comes complete with a set of built-in applications, including a word processor, drawing program, spreadsheet, and graphing calculator. To allow easy Internet access, the eMate 300 is bundled with Apple's Newton Internet Enabler and NetHopper 3.0, a Newton-based web browser from AllPen Software, Inc. which allows bookmarks, caching, GIF graphics, and table capabilities. A modem and email software may be purchased separately.
Priced at U.S. $749 for an individual unit, or U.S. $699 per unit for an eight-pack, the eMate 300 provides schools with an affordable way to reduce the student-to-computer ratio. An English-only version of the eMate 300 is scheduled to ship in March, and will initially be available to K-12 institutions only.
In April, Apple plans to introduce a configuration of the eMate 300 for higher education students and faculty, which will be available through campus resellers. A parent buy program, in which families can purchase the eMate 300, is also expected to begin in April. Details and pricing for both programs will be released at a later date.
Expanded Power Macintosh Line Offers Speeds Up to 250 MHZ
Apple's expanded line of Power Macintosh products provides education customers with a range of powerful, multimedia-rich, Internet-ready systems — from affordable desktop computers to administrative systems to powerful tower models designed for multimedia creation.
— Power Macintosh 5400/180, 5400/200 and 5500/225
Apple's all-in-one systems have earned a reputation for convenience, and are often viewed as a great value for the student desktop. With Apple's new models, each featuring the 603e PowerPC processor running at 180, 200 and 225 megahertz respectively, educators can now add high-performance to educational computing.
Designed to make multimedia playback and creation a standard in the classroom, the Power Macintosh 5400/180, 5400/200, and 5500/225 each feature a built-in monitor, CD-ROM drive, expanded memory and storage, PCI expandability, stereo sound, and easy Internet access. In addition, the 5400/200 and 5500/225 come standard with high-speed Ethernet and 256K level 2 cache built-in to further enhance system performance.
The top-of-the-line Power Macintosh 5500/225 features several advanced capabilities to handle next-generation multimedia creation. More specifically, the 5500/225 features built-in 2D and 3D graphics acceleration, a new video-out capability which allows easy and instant connection to any NTSC television and ships standard with 32 MB of RAM. It also includes a built-in video-in card that allows educators and students to record video from a camcorder, VCR or laserdisc.
Pricing for U.S. K-12 institutions is as follows: U.S. $1,499 for 5400/180; U.S. $1,699 for the 5400/200; U.S. $1,999 for the 5500/225. Pricing for products ordered through Apple's Educator Advantage program, or its higher education resellers, may vary.
— The Power Macintosh 6500/225 and 6500/250
The 6500/225 and 6500/250 pack high-performance features into a new space-saving modular tower design. The 6500 series features the most powerful processors ever offered by Apple in an education system: a 225 and 250 megahertz PowerPC 603e.
To complement the high-performance of these two new tower systems, Apple has integrated a built-in Iomega Zip drive for easy file sharing, transfer and backup, 2D and 3D graphics acceleration, 2GB/3GB internal storage, and a 12x CD-ROM drive. Both systems feature 256K level 2 cache, Ethernet connection, two PCI expansion slots, an Apple SuperDrive floppy disk drive to ensure that customers can meet their computing needs in the future.
In addition, the Power Macintosh 6500/250 comes standard with advanced multimedia capabilities, including built-in video in and NTSC TV video.
Pricing for U.S. K-12 institutions is U.S. $1,799 for the 6500/225, and U.S. $2,099 for the 6500/250 (excluding monitor). Prices for products ordered through Apple's Educator Advantage program, or higher education resellers, may vary.
New Secondary School Solutions
To complement its new Power Macintosh line-up, Apple announced three new Apple Education Series (AES) bundles designed for secondary schools. With the addition of these new titles — Productivity Tools, Science Tools, and Math Tools — the AES product line now includes more than 20 solutions designed for specific subject areas.
— Productivity Tools. To prepare secondary schools students with the skills required in the workforce, this kit includes word processing, database, spreadsheet, and communications software. It also provides a variety of graphics and multimedia tools that enable student to create interactive presentations or develop web pages.
— Science Tools. This kit includes a collection of software and resources for biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science studies. Teachers and students can use the Science Tools kit to conduct simulations, utilize image processing techniques and to generate, collect, analyze, and present data.
— Math Tools. This kit includes tools for numeric problem solving, geometry, algebra, patterns and functions, trigonometry, statistics, probability, discrete math, and computer science. It features simulation, construction, and modeling software, as well as programs that enable students to generate, collect, analyze, and present data.
The Productivity, Science or Math Tools solutions can be purchased along with a new Power Macintosh computer (5260, 5400, 5500, or 6500 series) for U.S. $300 each. AES bundles for the Power Macintosh 5260 or 5400 series are available immediately. Apple plans to offer AES bundles on the Power Macintosh 5500 and 6500 series beginning in April.
Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized innovator in the information industry and leader in multimedia technologies, creates powerful solutions based on easy-to-use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software, handheld computers and Internet content. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple develops, manufactures, licenses and markets solutions, products, technologies and services for business, education, consumer, entertainment, scientific and engineering and government customers in more than 140 countries.
Apple's home page on the World Wide Web: http://www.apple.com/; for information about Apple's education products, programs and services visit: http://www.education.apple.com/.
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