Apple says kids with Chromebooks in classrooms are 'not going to succeed'

[Arthur]

TL;DR. Chromebooks aren't as engaging as iPads.

 

Source: CNET (via The Verge)

 

Apple has a new laptop out today, the 16-inch MacBook Pro, and so Apple’s marketing chief Phil Schiller is out and about, talking trash about the competition.

 

In an interview with CNET, Schiller is asked about the growing popularity of Chromebooks for education, an important battleground for Apple where it’s been losing ground to Google’s machines. Schiller gives a particularly spicy answer, saying that while iPads are the "ultimate tool for a child to learn on", kids with Chromebooks are "not going to succeed".

 

Here’s Schiller’s take:

 

"Kids who are really into learning and want to learn will have better success. It’s not hard to understand why kids aren’t engaged in a classroom without applying technology in a way that inspires them. You need to have these cutting-edge learning tools to help kids really achieve their best results.

 

Yet Chromebooks don’t do that. Chromebooks have gotten to the classroom because, frankly, they’re cheap testing tools for required testing. If all you want to do is test kids, well, maybe a cheap notebook will do that. But they’re not going to succeed."

 

So there you have it. If you want your child to do their best in school, ignore the cheap and cheerful Chromebooks and go for a pricier Apple product they’ll find more engaging.

 

Schiller later tried to clarify the comment on Twitter, saying that Apple also provides "content, curriculum and tools" for kids, framing his remarks more as a comment on Google and Chromebook manufacturers than the children using them.

 

https://twitter.com/pschiller/status/1194718614869250048

 

[mavhc]

And that's why we're making ipads with keyboards for £150!

[FishCustard]

I'm no Chromebook fanatic, but the idea of "kids will only succeed if they have our product" - particularly when it's an expensive product - is quite frankly offensive.

[BOOT]

I don't think I've ever seen them use any apps other than web browser and camera...

[DrBeaker]

Shows how much BS Apple have to tell themselves to believe their own lies.

 

Yes - the iPad is a good product

 

Yes - it's nice, small and slim

 

No - I can't afford one, so have to buy alternative products.

 

Yes - Do the kids succeed with alternative products (looking at you here Photoshop and Adobe CC)

 

 

So No - your argument doesn't make much sense to me. It's the car thing all over again. I'm better than you because I have a BMW not a Ford.

 

Does it have 4x wheels - Yes

 

Does it get you from A- B - Yes

 

Does it work reliably - Yes

 

What else can you ask?

[3s-gtech]

I agree on the offensive part. We don’t have Chromebooks. We also don’t have many iPads. Our students can still succeed.

 

I’m waiting for the foldable, rollable iPad. Then it can be manipulated into its most streamlined form, and shoved right up his assumptions.

[free780]

Having dealt with mac MDM management. Apple do not care about shared devices. They've broken Connect to Server in finder in Mojave. They've turned on privacy controls which you can't enable via the MDM 100%. We don't have chromebooks as we are quite invested in Office 365. Managing Shared Windows devices is so much easier than Macs.

[jthompson]

This confirms my long-held belief that Apple haven't quite grokked, in the way that Google have, how classrooms work. You can throw Microsoft in with Apple on that one, too.

[localzuk]

The simple reality of the Chromebook vs iPad debate is that it comes down to a few choices.

 

1. Affordability - Chromebooks are far more cost effective. We got 2 in 1 devices for near enough £200 a device.

2. Form factor - iPads are still a consumption device without accessories. A lot of learning is typing still. There's no 2 ways around it. Children are expected to write reports and essays - doing this on a touchscreen is not as easy as using a keyboard. Especially for those with fine motor control issues. You can get keyboard accessories for iPads, but you have then added complexity to the mix - you now need to keep the iPad and the keyboard charged. You have also added an extra cost.

3. Apple are not "school friendly" any more IMO. We've got a stack of iPads that are a few years old, that a school purchased and didn't register properly (so they're locked to various Apple accounts). We have the invoice details, and have submitted requests to have them unlocked but we're weeks on now and still nothing. We found out they rejected the entire request for 30 of them, because there was a typo in 1 of the serial numbers, for example.

 

Schiller seems to be equating "ooh, they're shiny" with educational outcomes, and that just doesn't add up. He's derisive about Chromebooks being good for testing too. Guess what, schools need to test their children!

[E_G_R2]

Kids who are really into learning and want to learn will have better success. It’s not hard to understand why kids aren’t engaged in a classroom without applying technology in a way that inspires them. You need to have these cutting-edge learning tools to help kids really achieve their best results.

 

Damn is this why as a child of the 70's I only achieved 9 'O' levels, 2 'A' Levels a post graduate qualification and a Masters equivalent professional qualification (in Marketing before I switched allegiance) because all we had were books, blackboards, Video's/Films and a OHP.

 

I've been denied my chance in life

[DrBeaker]

... because there was a typo in 1 of the serial numbers, for example....

 

There's a good example of making people read small serial numbers, instead of using a barcode or QR code - you might not have the original box after this time.

[FragglePete]

2. Form factor - iPads are still a consumption device without accessories. A lot of learning is typing still. There's no 2 ways around it. Children are expected to write reports and essays - doing this on a touchscreen is not as easy as using a keyboard. Especially for those with fine motor control issues. You can get keyboard accessories for iPads, but you have then added complexity to the mix - you now need to keep the iPad and the keyboard charged. You have also added an extra cost.

 

Side note, biggest observation we noticed on our Year 7 intake this September was the number of kids that when sat in front of a keyboard and mouse just didn't know what to do. All come from primaries where iPADs were the norm. Haven't got many iPADs here and are seriously looking at Chromebooks as a replacement to our fat laptops as it would be cheaper and simplier. Kids need to learn keyboard skills to as you say, write reports and essays. We even get kids punching away at the screen with their fingers.

 

Pete

[jthompson]

I'd be interested to hear from those schools that are deploying iPads successfully. How much are those iPads being used to work on device-agnostic platforms? That is, how much is it about the hardware and form factor, and how much is it about the Apple ecosystem itself (or iOS-specific apps)?

 

I think our job is to provide the best platform(s) we can to our schools and to make them as device-agnostic as possible, letting the teachers bring to that platform whatever resources they choose. An iPad might be a great option, but it shouldn't be a requirement. Much of those resources will be legacy stuff, rather than super-duper 3D high-end interactive textbook apps that require an iPad and publisher subscription to access them.

 

I'm not quite sure why Phil Schiller is suggesting that Chromebooks are geared towards 'testing'. I don't really follow his point. Is he selling Apple on the basis of the massive number of educational apps available in the iOS app store? Seems like a case of mile wide but inch deep to me.

[TechMonkey]

Having dealt with mac MDM management. Apple do not care about shared devices. They've broken Connect to Server in finder in Mojave. They've turned on privacy controls which you can't enable via the MDM 100%. We don't have chromebooks as we are quite invested in Office 365. Managing Shared Windows devices is so much easier than Macs.

 

As a side note, you can use O365 on a Chromebook. All the Office apps are available and the web bits work fine, as it is Chrome. We do, and not found any killers yet.

[theeggmaster]

If you notice in Philip Schiller's comments, he's talking about taking tests on a Chromebook, which is what the majority of US users do, which they can't do on an iPad. He's conveniently not looking at everything else a Chromebook can do (including Android apps). It's just a marketing ploy to sell the shiny things.

[Rob_D]

I'm not quite sure why Phil Schiller is suggesting that Chromebooks are geared towards 'testing'. I don't really follow his point. Is he selling Apple on the basis of the massive number of educational apps available in the iOS app store? Seems like a case of mile wide but inch deep to me.

 

I reckon it ties in with their whole (hip/cool) marketing gimmick. The idea apple products "unlock your creativity" and "expand your horizons" while other devices windows are geared to the dry work of reports/exams/spreadsheets. Only with an educational spin and going after Google rather than windows.

 

Also isn't this about right for a company that declared a "holy war" against Google back in 2011?

[synaesthesia]

No surprise. Apple have very little idea about markets other than consumer/prosumer and they don't particularly care about those markets outside of making money from them.

[mavhc]

Side note, biggest observation we noticed on our Year 7 intake this September was the number of kids that when sat in front of a keyboard and mouse just didn't know what to do. All come from primaries where iPADs were the norm. Haven't got many iPADs here and are seriously looking at Chromebooks as a replacement to our fat laptops as it would be cheaper and simplier. Kids need to learn keyboard skills to as you say, write reports and essays. We even get kids punching away at the screen with their fingers.

 

Pete

 

Kids don't seem to own computers any more. "Just install python on your computer at home, it's free" "But I only have a console, a phone, and a tablet"

 

Don't need to learn to type now, didn't you see GPT-2?, just need to say "Ok Google, write my essay"

[theeggmaster]

Just had an email from my daughter's Primary school, asking for £17 per month to get an iPad Mini 5, plus insurance, warranty, app bundle and case. Alternatively, I can opt out and they'll give her one that she can only use in school. I'm opting out as we have devices at home.

[jthompson]

Kids don't seem to own computers any more. "Just install python on your computer at home, it's free" "But I only have a console, a phone, and a tablet"

 

Don't need to learn to type now, didn't you see GPT-2?, just need to say "Ok Google, write my essay"

 

My OH teaches primary and tells me that the kids don't know about scrollbars or using a mouse. Getting them to move the pointer over a scrollbar using their finger on the touchpad, then hold down the left button with a finger from their other hand, and then moving their first finger up or down, confounds them. A school laptop will often be their first ever encounter with such things. They might be able to work the keyboard a bit, because you still get those appearing on phones and tablets.

[thimon]

Kids don't seem to own computers any more.

 

If it wasn't for me doing digital art I wouldn't have a computer, my iPad 2 is in a draw gathering dust as I haven't used it in years. On a daily basis I use my phone and console at home. I have no need for a computer at home.

[DrCheese]

My OH teaches primary and tells me that the kids don't know about scrollbars or using a mouse. Getting them to move the pointer over a scrollbar using their finger on the touchpad, then hold down the left button with a finger from their other hand, and then moving their first finger up or down, confounds them. A school laptop will often be their first ever encounter with such things. They might be able to work the keyboard a bit, because you still get those appearing on phones and tablets.

 

Problem is we're finding they're now coming from Primary not having a clue how to use a mouse. They also call all our desktops "laptops" & try to touch the screens...

[localzuk]

My OH teaches primary and tells me that the kids don't know about scrollbars or using a mouse. Getting them to move the pointer over a scrollbar using their finger on the touchpad, then hold down the left button with a finger from their other hand, and then moving their first finger up or down, confounds them. A school laptop will often be their first ever encounter with such things. They might be able to work the keyboard a bit, because you still get those appearing on phones and tablets.

That isn't a new thing. 4 year olds didn't used to start school knowing how to use a mouse before either. Touchscreen devices have added extra knowledge.

[mavhc]

Problem is we're finding they're now coming from Primary not having a clue how to use a mouse. They also call all our desktops "laptops" & try to touch the screens...

 

My most often used phrases are "It's not a laptop, it's a desktop computer", and "it's a hash key, not a hashtag key", and "no X in the IT room" where X includes, food, drink, hitting people, and genocide.

 

As for the kids with the scrollbars, seems like everyone's hiding scrollbars these days anyway, not surprised.

[theeggmaster]

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Edited March 26, 2025 by theeggmaster
Couldn't find the delete option by clicking the three dots on the post.