Apple announcednew versions of its iPad Pros, a totally redesigned regular iPad and a new version of the Apple TV 4K on Tuesday.
The launches give Apple more new gadgets to sell ahead of the important holiday shopping season. The new tablets may help the company boost its iPad sales, which dipped 14% during Apple’s last holiday quarter and 2% during the most recent quarter. And they join Apple’s latest iPhone 14, two new Apple Watches and brand new AirPods Pro.
Here’s what’s new.
New iPad
The new entry-level iPad has the biggest changes. The home button at the bottom of the screen is gone and has been replaced with a fingerprint reader in the power button. It has a more squared design, similar to the iPad Air and iPad Pro, with a large 10.9-inch screen, USB-C in place of the Lightning connector, and will ship in different colors like red, yellow, blue and white.
Apple will sell different configurations, including Wi-Fi only and WiFi + 5G cellular, but it starts at $449, which is a bump from the $329 starting price of the ninth-generation iPad. It’s available to order Tuesday and will be in stores beginning Oct. 26.
iPad Pro
As in recent years, the company will sell two sizes of the iPad Pros, including an 11-inch model and a larger 12.9-inch model with a nicer screen.
The big change to the iPad Pro is a new M2 processor, which is the same one that was introduced in the MacBook Air earlier this year. It’s faster than the M1 processor used in thelast model of the iPad Prothat was introduced in 2021.
Apple TV 4K
The Apple TV 4K has a faster processor and ships in two models, a Wi-Fi-only version with 64GB of storage and a Wi-Fi + Ethernet model, which allows for a wired internet connection and has twice the storage. It has the updated Siri Remote with standard USB-C charging, which is the same cable used to charge iPads and non-Apple products. The remote used to use Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector.
The new Apple TV 4K starts at $129 and can be ordered beginning Tuesday. It hits stores Nov. 4.