Apple is updating its entry level iPad. The company on Tuesday unveiled a new 10.2-inch tablet that starts at $329 (£349, AU$529). Details of the new tablet came as Apple unveiled three new iPhone 11 models.
The electronics giant updated the device from the previous 9.7-inch version of the product. The company said the device will cost $299 for educators.
Apple said the device is compatible with the Apple Pencil stylus and a detachable keyboard. It will have an A10 fusion chip and all-day battery life, the company said. It's available for order on Tuesday, and coming to stores Sept. 30.
Apple made the announcement during a launch event at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. "iPad is a magical piece of glass that can be anything we want it to be," Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of product marketing, said during the event.
Apple's iPad lineup, once the company's hottest product line, was in a free fall for two years before rising again. Consumers have been holding on to their tablets for longer and opting to purchase bigger-screen iPhones and Macs instead. To help counteract the drop, Apple in late 2015 introduced its iPad Pro devices that work with specialized keyboards and stylus pencils, and last year, it started selling a cheaper iPad aimed at schools.
The iPad is now getting its own version of iOS, called iPad OS. The software introduces new productivity tools and brings the tablet closer to a notebook replacement. iPadOS includes a new home screen layout, enhanced multitasking features and new user interface gestures for cutting, copying, pasting and undoing actions. iPadOS gives the company's tablets a few exclusives: expanded Apple Pencil functionality, improved file management and a new version of Safari that will make for a more desktop-like web browsing experience.