Apple this week announced its new 9.7-inch iPad, featuring a Retina display and using the recently developed A9 CPU.
Apple this week issued a press release rather than host a launch for its new iPad, featuring a brighter 9.7-inch Retina display.
“The iPad is the world’s most popular tablet. Customers love the large, 9.7-inch display for everything from watching TV and movies, to surfing the web, making FaceTime calls, and enjoying photos, and now it is even more affordable,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “New customers and anyone looking to upgrade will love this new iPad for use at home, in school, and for work, with its gorgeous Retina display, our powerful A9 chip, and access to the more than 1.3 million apps designed specifically for it.”
It is widely believed that the low-key nature of the launch reflected the diminishing contribution of the iPad to Apple sales.
Apple provided the following information:
iPad features a beautifully bright Retina display with over 3.1 million pixels for stunning pictures and videos, and is enclosed in a sturdy yet thin aluminium unibody enclosure weighing less than half a kilo for great portability and durability. The Apple-designed A9 chip with 64‑bit desktop-class architecture delivers fast processing and graphics performance for apps and games, while maintaining the same all-day battery life¹ customers have come to expect from iPad.
The front- and back-facing cameras offer exceptional low-light performance and HD video recording, making it fun and easy to FaceTime with friends and family and capture unforgettable memories using the large Retina display as a viewfinder. Ultrafast wireless means connecting with iPad is quick and easy, and support for LTE cellular bands worldwide helps customers stay connected when travelling.² Apple SIM makes it even easier to connect to wireless data plans right from your device when travelling in more than 140 countries and regions.
Touch ID gives iPad users a simple and secure way to unlock iPad, keep personal information private within apps and approve purchases from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBooks Store. With Apple Pay³ on iPad, paying for physical goods and services within apps or on a website in Safari has never been easier.
iPad comes with iOS 10, which brings more expressive and animated ways to communicate in Messages, new ways to use Siri with your favourite apps, beautifully redesigned Maps, Photos, Apple Music and News, and the new Home app, which lets you simply and securely set up, manage and control your home all in one place. Multitasking features including Slide Over, Split View and Picture-in-Picture help you do even more.
Pricing
• iPad comes in silver, gold and space grey and is available to order beginning Friday, March 24, from Apple.com and starts delivering to customers and arriving next week in Apple Stores, through select carriers and Apple Authorised Resellers (prices may vary) in the US and more than 20 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Denmark, India, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Turkey and other countries and regions will follow in April. Brazil, Taiwan and other countries and regions will follow in May. For more information, please visit apple.com/ipad.
• Polyurethane Smart Covers for iPad are available in charcoal grey, white, midnight blue, pink sand and (RED) at Apple.com.
• iPad mini 4, available in silver, gold and space grey, now offers more capacity for the same price at Apple.com.
• Every customer who buys iPad from Apple will be offered free Personal Setup, in-store or online, to help them customise their iPad by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more.
• Anyone who wants to learn the basics or go further