US economy

Preview: Apple to unveil new iPads and Macs on Tuesday


If you like the new iPhones, you’ll love what Apple is expected to unveil Tuesday. 

At a media event in Brooklyn, Apple is poised to introduce several new products, including a re-designed, top of the line iPad Pro, with edge-to-edge display screen, no Home button and FaceID to unlock the device, along with a long overdue, 10th anniversary refresh for the MacBook Air laptop. 

The top of the line iPads, the Pro line, have larger screens and faster graphics than less expensive models, with the current Pros starting at $700 and $800, compared to $329 for the entry-level model. The speed and style upgrades of the new model will “justify” the higher prices, says Daniel Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities. 

 

The iPad was first introduced in 2010 as a laptop and e-book reader alternative by the late Steve Jobs and turned into an iPhone style, massive hit, before cooling off in recent years. Still, the iPad sells around 40 million units yearly, which is more than the average 20 million Macintosh computers sold, but the Macs have higher margin and prices, so Apple makes more money on them. 

Apple sells over 200 million iPhones yearly. 

 

In recent years, Apple has evolved the iPad to more resemble the laptop, without the weight, with fewer restrictions that had hampered earlier models. It introduced a new accessory, the $99 Pencil, to draw on the touchscreen, and just this month announced that Adobe’s full-size Photoshop software would be now available for use on the iPad. 

Before you could only access Photoshop via a light, mobile version that eliminated many of the features favored by pros. 

Additionally, Apple turned its attention to the education market, to sell schools on arming students with tablets for learning. 

The MacBook Air, first introduced in 2008, hasn’t had a major revision since 2015. It was billed at the time as the lightest, full-service laptop available from Apple and currently starts at $999. 

However, there’s a wide difference in specs between the Air and the step-up Pro models, with a 1.8 gigahertz dual-core i5 power chip on the Air versus 2.3 gigahertz chip for the entry-level Pro. 

More: Does Apple’s iPad still matter?

More: Looking for a new iPad, Mac or AirPods? You really should wait until the end of the month

More: Apple to host special event in Brooklyn Oct 30. Are new Macs, iPads or AirPods on the way?

Ives says there’s “massive pent-up demand,” from consumers for a new Air, which USA TODAY’s Edward C. Baig originally called a “yummy machine for people who spend a lot of time traveling,” back in 2008 when the Air first launched. 

Along with the different style for the updated iPad Pro, Apple is also expected to add a new way to charge the device, via a USB-C connector, which is how consumers charge up their recent MacBook Pro models. 

The promise of USB-C is that you can use the same connecting cable to charge everything in your home, from cameras and laptops to a new iPad. The downside is that your old Lightning cable that you’ve been using for years to charge both the iPhone and iPad will now work with only the iPhone. 

Apple’s event begins at 10 a.m. ET, and will be streamed live at Apple’s website, but only via the Safari browser. So if you use Google Chrome, you’ll need to install Apple’s browser.

USA TODAY will be covering the event, so be sure to follow Edward C. Baig (@edbaig) Eli Blumenthal (@eliblumenthal) and Jefferson Graham @jeffersongraham.)

 



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