The Congress of Deputies plans to allocate nearly 1.6 million euros to the new technological package that its members will receive in the next legislature. As has been the case in previous stages, each parliamentarian will have a tablet and a state-of-the-art mobile phone, both from the Apple brand, as detailed in the bidding documents approved by the Chamber.
According to these documents, consulted by Europa Press, the total investment amounts to 1,598,510.43 euros, taxes included. Of that amount, 655,360.2 euros (541,620.2 without VAT) will be reserved for the purchase of 425 tablets, while 943,150.23 euros (779,463 without VAT) will be dedicated to the supply and technical support of 550 digital mobile phones.
In both contracts, an accelerated procedure has been chosen, due to the need to have the equipment available as soon as possible to meet the demands of what will be the XVI Legislature. This will begin on December 23, the date on which the new Congress resulting from the elections on November 29 will be constituted.
Features of the state-of-the-art devices
The tablets must incorporate iPadOS 26 or higher operating system, with 256 GB of internal memory, 11-inch liquid retina display and a resolution of 2,360 by 1,640 pixels, with 264 pixels per inch, Multi-Touch technology, and a 12 Mpx wide-angle camera, among other technical specifications.
In addition, they must be supplied with a protective case for the front, back, and all four corners, as well as with a keyboard that connects and powers directly from the tablet via "Smart Connector," without resorting to Bluetooth for pairing. The entire set must come with a minimum of two years warranty.
As for the mobile phones, the document requires that the operating system is also IOS 26 or higher, with 512 GB of internal storage, 6.3-inch OLED Super Retina XDR display with a resolution of 2,622 x 1,206 pixels and a main camera of 48 Mpx with telephoto lens. Along with the charger and cable, each device must include a transparent case compatible with Magsafe and a tempered glass screen protector.
Reasons to maintain the Apple ecosystem
The Lower House argues the choice, once again, of Apple devices because the applications that have been made available to deputies for the performance of their parliamentary work for several legislatures have been developed specifically for the IOS/iPadOS environment.
"The incorporation of devices with different essential technical characteristics would create difficulties in use and in sharing centralized information, as well as with the developed systems, forcing the duplication of development effort and subsequent support and maintenance, apart from the economic cost that it would entail," the technical bidding documents state.
In this context, the companies participating in the tender must be authorized distributors of Apple and have the identifier that accredits them as members of the partner program for the registration of devices in Apple Business. The objective is that the terminals can be integrated into the mobile device management (MDM) system with which the devices operating with iOS/iPadOS are currently managed in Congress, thus facilitating their configuration and remote control.