Apple spruces up Macs, iPad Pros and raises prices
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[October 31, 2018]
By Angela Moon and Stephen Nellis
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple
Inc <AAPL.O> refreshed some of its lesser-known products at a New York
event on Tuesday, adding iPhone features like facial recognition to the
iPad Pro and faster processors and better displays to some Mac computers
that had gone years without a major update.
The devices will hit stores on Nov. 7. Counting new iPhones and Apple
Watches released last month, Apple will have more than half a dozen new
products on shelves for the holiday shopping season, many at higher
prices than previous models.
The Cupertino, California, company introduced new versions of the iPad
Pro, its higher-end tablet that competes with Microsoft Corp's <MSFT.O>
Surface, with thinner bezels and more screen space, along with the face
unlock system found on Apple's newer iPhones.
Prices for the iPad Pros increased to $799 and $999 for 11- and
12.9-inch models, though Apple plans to keep an older 10.5-inch version
on sale for $649.
Apple unveiled the updates at an opera house at the Brooklyn Academy of
Music, calling the venue a haven for creative activity. The company has
been working to win back professionals like graphic designers targeted
by Microsoft with its Surface tablets, which have gained market share
this year.
Apple also played up software partnerships with Adobe Inc <ADBE.O> and
Autodesk Inc <ADSK.O>, whose programs will now work on Apple's iPad Pro.
In July Apple reported its worst quarter of Mac sales since 2010, with
unit volumes down 13 percent year over year, while iPad unit sales rose
only 1 percent from a year earlier. Revenue for both fell 5 percent from
the prior year.
A new version of the Mac Book Air, originally released in 2011, will
feature a higher-resolution display and thinner bezels and start at
$1,199, up from $999.
"Yes, you save a bit compared to the Mac Book Pro, but that's not your
main reason for buying it," which is instead power and portability, said
Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies. She said Apple
"knows they have a very loyal user base that will be willing to spend
the money."
Apple said the Mac Mini, a small desktop customers provide their own
display and accessories for, would add processing power and memory
capacity and start at $799, also an increase.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the new iPad Pro during an Apple
launch event in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., October 30,
2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
As with previous models, the new machines rely on processors from Intel Corp <INTC.O>,
but Apple said an increasing number of security features on the devices are
being handled by its own so-called T2 chip.
Apple introduced new iPhones and Apple Watches last month, but the older product
lines accounted for $45 billion in sales in the most recent fiscal quarter. In
comparison, iPhones brought in revenue of $141.3 billion.
"They really wanted to show the world they haven't forgotten about the iPad and
the Mac," said Mika Kitagawa, a senior principal research analyst at Gartner.
Some of the recent dip in Mac sales can be explained by timing. Apple had waited
until July to release new Macs, instead of June as in previous years.
And Mac sales growth has outpaced the PC market, while the iPad has been the
most successful tablet in a market that turned out to be smaller than Apple
hoped when it released the device in 2010.
Microsoft's Surface line offers a hybrid between a tablet and laptop that runs
Microsoft's full Windows operating system. The iPad Pro runs the same operating
system as iPhones.
The iPad Pro models have a USB-C port that allows them to work with an external
monitor for the first time. When combined with the existing ability for an iPad
Pro to work with a keyboard, the new port brings the devices closer to becoming
a laptop competitor, Milanesi said.
"When people are looking at using this as their main computing device, that's
where you might seem the move toward the 12.9-inch" iPad Pro, she said.
Apple shares last traded nearly flat at $212.39.
(Reporting by Angela Moon in New York and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco;
Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Meredith Mazzilli)
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