Apple unveils new iPads and Mac to regain ground
Apple has introduced a faster, slimmer iPad Air 2, tacking on modest improvements such as a fingerprint sensor to its mainstay tablet in time for what is expected to be a hotly contested holiday season for mobile devices.
Marketing chief Phil Schiller, calling the larger tablet the world's slimmest, described several new features such as an anti-reflective screen and confirmed the inclusion of the "Touch ID" sensor, already available on the latest iPhones.
Prices for the 16GB iPad Air 2 start at $619 while prices for the 16GB iPad Mini 3 start at $499.
Pre-orders for both devices start tomorrow and will be shipped from next week.
Yet Apple may struggle to arouse the same passion for tablets as in past years, among consumers faced with an abundance of hand-held, touch-screen devices.
Facing tough competition in the tablet market, the new line-up of iPads also feature Apple's mobile payments system.
The California tech giant said its new iPad Air 2 would be thinner than its rivals, with upgraded graphics power and other features.
The new line-up aims to help Apple regain ground in a tablet market increasingly dominated by the rival Android platform.
Apple said its mobile payments system known as Apple Pay, allowing iPhone and iPad users to tap their devices to pay at retailers, would soon begin with more banks and merchants on board.
The iPad Air 2 is 18 percent thinner than its predecessor, Apple said.
The new design at 6.1 millimeters (0.24 inches) "makes it the world's thinnest tablet," the company's vice president Phil Schiller said.
"It's so thin you can stack two of them and it will still be thinner than the original iPad."
The aluminum-body tablet uses a new A8X processor, and boasts up to 10 hours of battery life. It weighs 435 grams and has twin cameras capable of producing high-definition videos.
The new slimmed-down tablet comes after last year's iPad launch prompted rivals to say they had a slimmer profile.
The new tablet comes with a more powerful processor that delivers livelier graphics, improved battery life and Touch ID, the fingerprint unlock system that Apple introduced last year on its iPhones.
Apple also upgraded its smaller tablet, called the iPad Mini 3, which will also have the Touch ID system.
Apple will cut prices for its current iPad models.
Apple chief Tim Cook said the iPad has been wildly successful, with 225 million units sold in the four years since the initial launch.
But in a tablet market that is cooling, the rival Android platform has been gaining share.
According to Strategy Analytics, Android grabbed 70 percent of the tablet market in the second quarter, to 25 percent for Apple, even if it remains the largest single vendor.
JP Gownder at Forrester Research said the new iPad features "maximise the chance that businesses and consumers will be willing to upgrade their old iPads," but added that "it is disappointing - particularly to enterprise buyers - that there wasn't a 12.9-inch iPad model."
500 more banks for Apple Pay
Cook said the Apple Pay system, which has signed up major merchants and banks as well as payment processors like Visa and MasterCard, was gaining participants.
"Just since last month, we have signed another 500 banks," he said.
"They will be rolling out support later this year and early next year."
Apple Pay has signed up a range of retailers including Macy's, Sports Authority, Toys R Us, Staples and Whole Foods Markets.
"Our team has worked incredibly hard to make Apple Pay private and secure, with the simplicity of a single touch of your finger," said Eddy Cue, Apple senior vice president.
"We continue to add more Apple Pay-ready banks, credit card companies and merchants, and think our users will love paying with Apple Pay."
Apple also announced its OS X desktop operating system called Yosemite was available as a free upgrade for users of Mac computers.
The new system includes a feature called "handoff" to allow people to switch among Apple devices and continue a task such as writing emails.
On the desktop side, Apple introduced an iMac computer with a 27-inch high-resolution Retina display, and an upgraded Mac mini with a lower starting price.
Yet tablet sales are set to rise only 11 percent this year, according to tech research firm Gartner, compared to 55 percent last year, even as smartphone sales continue to soar and personal computer sales are waning.
Tablet sales for Apple, which defined the category with the iPad just four years ago, have fallen for two straight quarters. Investors remain focused on the iPhone, Apple's main revenue generator, but a prolonged downturn in iPad sales would threaten about 15 percent of the company's revenue.
The new iPads will go up against recently introduced tablets from Amazon.com and Google in coming months.
Shares of Apple edged down 0.6 percent to $96.95 at mid-afternoon.
MACS
The tech giant also announced the iMac with Retina display featuring the world's highest resolution display for any computer.
It will boast seven times more pixels on the new Retina 5K display than a standard Full HD display in a body that only 5mm thin.
The processor and graphics card inside are being upgraded to make it the most powerful yet.
The 27-inch model costs $2999 and is available for shipping today.
iOS 8.1
Apple also announced the next iOS 8 update will be released this Tuesday and will include some new features for both iPhones and iPads.
New features include a public photo library for sharing all your images and videos with all your devices, while the Camera Roll feature is coming back.
While Apple acknowledged it listened to users' feedback when improving iOS, the company did not go as far as apologising for botched updates that left devices unable to make calls or use Touch ID.
APPLE YOSEMITE
The new version of OS X Yosemite will be available for free download today.
It delivers new features letting Mac users take calls and send text messages from their computer, via a connected iPhone, and includes a new Today notifications tab.
The tab is a redesign for its Safari web browser, with a look more aligned to iPhone software.
"OS X Yosemite ushers in the future of computing, where your Apple devices all work together seamlessly and magically," Apple software engineering senior vice-president Craig Federighi said.
A free update for iWork word processor will also be available today.
VYING
Chief Executive Tim Cook said developers were beginning to design apps for its upcoming Watch.
Apple last month introduced the Watch, its first new device since the iPad in 2010. The company's entry into the rapidly expanding wearable computing arena will be available only from 2015, but Cook said software development kits for the device will be available from November.
Morning news break – October 17
