University of Nevada to give students free iPad Air and accessories as part of new equal access initiative

iBooks on iPad Air 4 (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

The University of Nevada, Reno is giving students a free iPad Air and accessories plus apps.
The move is part of a new Digital Wolf Pack Initiative ensuring equal access to innovative technology.

The University of Nevada, Reno is giving students a free iPad Air and accessories as well as apps as part of a new initiative to ensure equal access to innovative technology.

The move, announced today, is dubbed the Digital Wolf Pack Initiative and will see an iPad Air given to students to help "improve digital literacy and fluency with apps that support productivity, creativity and communication."

"I'm beyond excited that we are collaborating with Apple to provide a common learning platform for all Wolf Pack students that delivers equal access to technology and digital tools that will transform the learning experience for our University," Brian Sandoval, president of the University of Nevada, Reno said. "We want to ensure students have the same level of innovative technology, digital tools and learning materials, anywhere and anytime from their first day on campus through graduation and beyond. Only a select group of universities in the U.S. have launched this caliber of initiative and I am proud that we are amongst them."

Initially rolling out to all incoming freshmen this fall, the plan is to ensure that all students get in on the act eventually. The University also says that it chose to work with Apple on the new project specifically because of its privacy stance. Another option could likely have been Google Chromebooks but iPad Air tablets were chosen.

The University selected Apple products because of the power of iPad Air and iPadOS, the availability of robust suites of software and apps for productivity and creativity, and best-in-class security and privacy built into the full platform, from hardware to software.

Students and parents can learn more about the Digital Wolf Pack Initiative on the UNR website. Everyone else wanting to treat themselves to a new tablet should check out our collection of the best iPad Air deals currently available.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.