Form the article, it seems as though $3.3 million went into the creation of the curriculum and training, and the $2.3 million is for the computers. With the quantity quoted and assuming 25 spares, the cost per unit is more like $933.
Difference - but not meaningful difference.
I’ve been running $400 laptops for 7 years. My 99%ile and 95%ile sons had no trouble learning using them.
And I would imagine they just might have some purchasing power - buying 2,000 at a time.
Whether it is Apple - or somebody giving a relative a giant commission check - it is all the same - government giving away what even upper middle class American taxpayers can’t afford.