AUGUSTA – Apple Computer Corp. submitted the winning bid to put new computers on the laps of 36,000 seventh- and eighth-graders and their teachers, extending for another four years the state’s first-in-the-nation program, officials said Tuesday.

The bid comes out to an annual cost of $289 per unit – compared to $300 per unit contained in the original bid four years ago, said Jeff Mao, coordinator of educational technology for the Maine Department of Education.

The bid, which works out to roughly $40 million, includes new iBook computers, upgraded wireless networks, a four-year warranty and other perks such as professional development for each of Maine’s 241 public middle schools.

“We think this is a phenomenal proposal. Now we have to sit down and negotiate the intricacies of the program,” Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron said Tuesday.

Unlike the first deal, this one will also be made available to private and parochial schools, as well as the state’s high schools and elementary schools, Mao said.

The state is also making available additional money through the Essential Programs and Services school funding formula to extend the program into high schools. More than 30 high schools already have some laptops deployed.

Only two companies submitted bids. The other company was CDW-G, which provides technological services to government, education and health care. CDW-G’s proposal called for Lenova Thinkpads in partnership with other businesses.

Both companies wanted to participate because the state’s program has become a model for others to follow, Gendron said.

“The proposals really did recognize that Maine is an international leader in integrating technology and learning,” he said.