Apple made a bid to consolidate the iPad’s position at the high end of the tablet market in the face of competition from lower-cost rivals and new entrants such as Nokia, by putting a greater emphasis on software and device upgrades.
“We designed iPad to be the best tool for the things that you do most often,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, underlining the productivity uses for the iPad by making available for free with the device for the first time its suites of office applications and photo editing software.
The redesigned 10-inch iPad, renamed the “iPad Air”, is 20 per cent thinner than its predecessor and boasts a faster 64-bit chip.