iPad Pro: Apple launches its biggest-ever tablet with a 12.9-inch display at $799 onwards

New Delhi: Apple announced a bigger iPad with a new keyboard and stylus aimed at business customers. The new iPad Pro will have a 12.9-inch screen, compared with 9.7 inches for the current full-size iPad.

The new iPad Pro prices start at $799 and comes in three variants. The 32 GB (WiFi-only) model is priced at $799, and the 64 GB (WiFi-only) model at $949. The 128 GB (WiFi + Cellular) variant carries a price tag of $1079.

Apple says its new iPad Pro will be available in November. The larger-screen iPad Pro model is aimed at countering weakening consumer demand for tablets.

It will have four speakers and options for a physical keyboard and a stylus, called Apple Pencil. Despite the larger size, Apple says it's about the same weight as the original iPad.

The new iPad also marks Apple's latest attempt to steal corporate customers away from Microsoft, whose personal computers have been business staple for decades. Microsoft makes a tablet designed for the needs of office workers called the Surface Pro 3 that sells at prices starting at $800. With a 12-inch display screen, the Surface Pro 3 is slightly smaller than Apple's new tablet.

At an Apple event in San Francisco on Wednesday, an executive from Apple's former rival, Microsoft, demonstrated the iPad Pro's productivity potential using Microsoft Office and other apps. Other companies showed off using the iPad Pro for creativity tasks and health care — including an app for doctors to show patients what's happening with 3-D graphics.

Apple said it had partnered with Cisco Systems and IBM to help power the iPad pro, which it said is up to 1.8 times faster and has a 10-hour battery life. Many people on Twitter seemed unimpressed by the new iPad and lamented its large size, however.

The iPad was a runaway success when it was introduced in 2010, but sales have been declining since 2013. In part, that's because competitors are now selling a number of lower-priced tablets that use Google's Android software.

Cook began by talking up the Apple Watch, saying customer satisfaction for the new product was 97 per cent. Apple is working with French luxury goods maker Hermes on a new watch collection, and Facebook Messenger is coming to the device, he added.

(With inputs from Reuters and Associated Press)