Apple launches its most powerful iPad Pro, MacBook Air

New York: Apple on Tuesday introduced the new iPad Pro with all-screen design, Face ID, A12X Bionic chip with next-generation Neural Engine and up to 1TB internal storage.

Two iPad Pro models - 11-inch and 12.9-inch - feature Liquid Retina display.

The iPad Pro will be available in silver and space grey finishes in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB configurations as well as a new 1TB option through Apple Authorised Resellers and select carriers, the company announced at a special Brooklyn event here.

The new iPad Pro models - Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio - are available for order starting Tuesday and in stores starting November 7 in the US and more than 40 other countries. The prices are, however, yet to be announced.

The new iPad Pro models will be available later this year in India.

"The new iPad Pro has an all-new thinner design, speeds through projects with the super-fast A12X Bionic chip and unlocks with a glance using Face ID in any orientation," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

With over a million apps designed to take advantage of the large multi-touch display, including next-generation apps like Photoshop CC on iPad (coming next year), the new iPad Pro will push what users can do on a computer further than ever before, said Apple.

A second-generation Apple Pencil magnetically attaches to iPad Pro and wirelessly charges at the same time.

A new touch sensor built onto Apple Pencil detects taps, introducing an entirely new way to interact within apps.

The new Smart Keyboard Folio features a streamlined design that is adjustable for added versatility.

The new 11-inch iPad Pro packs a bigger display with more pixels in the same footprint as the 10.5-inch model, yet weighs just one pound.

The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro places the largest display of any iPad into a more portable package.

A new USB-C connector replaces the lightning connector in support of the powerful ways iPad Pro is used.

iOS 12 OS brings new gestures to iPad that are already familiar to iPhone X and iPhone Xs users including tap to wake and swiping to go home, access Control Center and for multi-tasking.

Group FaceTime feature now makes it easy to connect with groups of friends or colleagues at the same time.

Apple also launched an all-new MacBook Air with 13-inch Retina display, Touch ID and latest processors.

The new MacBook Air features an 8th generation Intel Core i5 processor, Intel UHD Graphics and faster system memory up to 16GB.

MacBook Air also features SSDs up to 1.5TB in capacity, which are up to 60 per cent faster than the previous generation.

"Redesigning MacBook Air started with a stunning Retina display and all-day battery life, and then we added Touch ID and the Apple T2 Security Chip," said Schiller.

The 13.3-inch Retina display has over 4 million pixels of resolution so text and images in macOS Mojave look sharp and stunning.

The new MacBook Air also includes a built-in FaceTime HD camera for Group FaceTime calls with friends and family.

MacBook Air now includes Touch ID - a fingerprint sensor built right into the keyboard.

To support Touch ID, MacBook Air comes with the Apple T2 Security Chip, which makes the notebook more secure.

Apple also announced a Mac mini with quad- and 6-core desktop-class processors, up to 64GB of faster memory and fast all-flash storage, delivering five times faster performance.

With Thunderbolt 3 ports, the Apple T2 Security Chip and a 10Gb Ethernet option, the new Mac mini is more capable desktop that can do so much more, said Apple.

"Mac mini customers are going to flip over the new Mac mini," said Schiller.

With up to 64GB of 2666 MHz memory, Mac mini can load larger files into memory, run more virtual machines or manipulate even larger data sets.