Apple's October event reveals new iPad Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Mini
Apple unveiled a lineup of new Macs and iPads, including an upgraded MacBook Air, Mac Mini and larger iPad, at a rare East Coast event on Tuesday.
The product launch at the Brooklyn Academy of Music took place six weeks after the company rolled out its new iPhone and Apple Watch line.
The new MacBook Air will feature a high-definition "Retina" display, longer battery life and a bigger screen and trackpad. Like the iPhone, it is able to be unlocked with a fingerprint. It is also slightly lighter than the previous model, weighing in at 2.75 pounds, and has a starting retail price of $1,200.
The Mac Mini, with a base price of $800, will come standard with flash (solid-state) memory and a quad-core processor. The cases for both computers are made entirely of recycled aluminum.
Apple also introduced a major iPad upgrade, including a larger iPad Pro with many features that mirroring those from the iPhone X.
The largest model is under 6 millimeters thick and measures 12.9 inches across, or nearly the same size as a standard sheet of paper. It does away with the "home" button in favor of swiping gestures that have become standard on the iPhone X, and features a USB-C connector allowing the attachment of iPhones or cameras. The device will use FaceID to unlock.
That model will sell for $1000, while an 11-inch version will retail for $800.
Starting next year, the iPad Pro will also support a fully functioning version of Adobe Photoshop, Apple announced—a clear bid to maintain Apple popularity among workers in design-intensive industries and visual fields.
The upgrade comes as the number of iPads sold reaches 400 million globally, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. "We've sold more iPads in the last year than the entire notebook lineup of all the biggest notebook manufacturers," he said onstage at the event, noting that the device was "faster than 92 percent of portable computers."
As CNET's Scott Stein noted, the upgrades don't do much to resolve the iPad-Mac divide. Rather than bringing the two product lines closer together, Apple has continued developing distinct features for each. "iPad Pro: even more refined. No more a laptop than it was before," Stein wrote.
The new iPad will go on sale Nov. 7. The 10.5-inch version of the Pro will drop in price to $650.