Apple iPad launch wrap up: MacBook, iPad Mini, MacPro, iPad Air and more

APPLE has announced two new iPads, a MacBook computer, a MacPro desktop computer, a new operating system and new software. Here's everything you need to know about the new products.

The iPad Mini starts at $479

APPLE has taken it to its competitors today by significantly dropping the price of its iPads, MacBook Pros, MacBooks and even its software.

AS IT HAPPENED: Apple's iPad event

At a launch today at its San Francisco headquarters Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the new product range which included, amongst other things, free software for everyone.

With its iPhone 5C and 5S launch behind it, today was all about the iPad.

Today Apple announced two iPads, the iPad Air (or as I like to call it "the iPad 3 by any other name"). The Air is lighter, thinner, faster with increased graphics compared to its predecessor.

The new iPad range is designed to compete with its rivals the Google Nexus 7 and the Surface RT (amongst other).

Both rival tablets are less expensive than the Air but their technical specifications don't hold up against it.

Apple also released another iPad Mini whose specs are exactly the same as the Air except for the size and weight, which you have to admit, is impressive.

On top of two new iPads Apple also released a new and improved MacBook Pro, a new MacPro desktop computer, a brand new desktop operating system, OS X Mavericks as well as new and improved software for iLife and iWork which it is releasing absolutely free in an attempt to chip away of Microsoft's market share of desktop publishing software, Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Is it any good? Absolutely.

Will people buy it? Without a doubt.

But as with all things technology there's an upside and a downside.

The good news is that Apple is offering a lot for free. Both OS X Mavericks and its iWork and iLife software are available to download today at no cost.

That's nothing to turn your nose up at, and Apple's rivals are going to have a hard time topping it.

The bad news is as usual, Australians are paying more than US customers - not a whole lot more - but just enough to make its prices seem slightly less exciting.

Apple's competitors have been taking it to the tech giant by offering low-cost tablets and laptops at lower prices. This not only helps with sales but it creates the impression amongst consumers that Apple is simply charging too much.

Today was Apple's attempt to address complaints on price.

Here is a detailed breakdown of what's on offer:

iPad Air

Available in Australia: 1st November

Prices: Starts at $598

Specs:

- Contains a 9.7 inch Retina display.

- Weighs less than half a kilogram.

- Sports an A7 chip and 64-bit architecture.

- Features four times the CPU of previous models, eight times the graphics.

- Boasts an M7 motion co-processor for greater efficiency.

- Contains two antennas supplying wi-fi that is twice as fast as previous models, bringing 300Mbps.

- Cellular models come with expanded 4G LTE supporting more networks around the world.

- Facetiae HD camera, improved backside illumination, larger pixels for better low light performance.

- iSight 5MP sensor, advanced optics.

- Faster iPad auto-focus, three times video zoom, five times still zoom, better dynamic range, image stabilisation.

- Comes with iOS 7 preloaded.

Prices:

Wi-fi only: $598 for 16GB, $699 for 32GB, $799 for 64GB and $899 for 128GB model.

Wi-fi + 3G / 4G: $749 for 16GB, $849 for 32GB, 949 for 64GB and $1,049 for 128GB.

(Apple will continue to sell the iPad 2 for A$449 for the 16GB wi-fi model and A$598 for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model.)

iPad Mini

Available in Australia: 1st November

Price: Starts at $479

The iPad Mini starts at $479

Specs:

(Almost exactly the same as the iPad Air, but here they are anyway:)

- Contains a 7.9 inch Retina display with 3.1 million pixels (2048 x 1536 resolution).

- Weighs less than half a kilogram.

- Sports an A7 chip and 64-bit architecture.

- Features four times the CPU of previous models, eight times the graphics.

- Boasts an M7 motion co-processor for greater efficiency.

- Contains two antennas supplying wi-fi that is twice as fast as previous models, bringing 300Mbps.

- Cellular models come with expanded 4G LTE supporting more networks around the world.

- Facetiae HD camera, improved backside illumination, larger pixels for better low light performance.

- iSight 5MP sensor, advanced optics.

- Faster iPad auto-focus, three times video zoom, five times still zoom, better dynamic range, image stabilisation.

- Comes with iOS 7 preloaded.

Prices:

Wi-fi only: $479 for 16GB, $598 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB and $799 for 128GB model.

Wi-fi + 3G/4G: $629 for 16GB, $479 for 32GB, $849 for 64GB, $949 for 128GB.

(Apple will continue to sell the original iPad Mini for $349 for the 16GB wi-fi model and $499 for the 16GB wi-fi + 3G / 4G model).

OSX Mavericks

(OSX Mavericks is the new operating system for Apple laptop and desktop computers).

Available in Australia: Today

Price: Free

Apple Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi speaks during an Apple announcement in San Francisco, California. Picture: Getty

Specs:

- iBooks is now available on OS X Mavericks allowing users to access their ebooks and textbooks across devices.

- New Maps feature with trip planning capacity and voice navigation. (Here's hoping it works properly).

- Streamlined calender that estimates travel time between appointments and also provides maps to your desired location along with weather forecasts.

- New Safari with Share Links that lets you consolidate your content with other people you follow on Twitter and LinkedIn (but not Facebook, unfortunately).

- iCloud Keychain stores your website usernames and passwords, credit card numbers and wi-fi logins across all of your devices so you don't have to remember them.

- Enhanced multi-display support, no configuration required.

- Interactive notifications allow users to respond to Tweets and Facetime calls and delete emails (among other things) without ever leaving the app they're in.

- Finder tabs unclutter your desktop.

- Increased battery life and performance.

- Compressed Memory automatically shrinks inactive data to keep your computer running quickly.

- Integrated graphics with OpenCL support and dynamic video memory allocation.

Price:

Free from the Mac App Store for anyone running OS X Lion, Mountain Lion or Leopard.

Others can buy it for $20.99.

MacBook Pro Retina

Available in Australia: Today

Price: Starts at $1,599

Prices start at $1,599.

Specs:

- Fourth generation Intel Core i5 processors, up to 2.6GHz and Turbo Boost speeds of up to 3.1GHz.

- Integrated Intel Iris graphics with 90 per cent better performance than previous model.

- The 13 inch model can be configured with faster dual-core Intel Core i7 processors up to 2.8Ghz with Turbo Boost speeds of up to 3.3GHz.

- The 13 inch model delivers nine hours of battery life (two more than previous model) and nine hours of iTunes movie playback.

- The 15 inch model features fourth generation Intel core i7 processors up to 2.3GHz with Turbo Boost speeds of up to 3.5GHz.

- Features Intel iris Pro graphics or Iris Pro and GeForce GT 750M discrete graphics with 2GB of video memory.

- 15 inch can also be configured with faster quad core Intel Core i7 processors up to 2.6GHz with Turbo Boost Speeds up to 3.8GHz.

- The 15 inch delivers eight hours of battery life (one more than previous model) and eight hours of iTunes movie playback.

- Boasts PCIe-based flash storage for 60 per cent faster read times than previous models.

- Wi-fi speeds are up to three times faster.

- Contains Dual Thunderbolt 2 ports which allows users to connect multiple displays and an HDMI port.

- Ships with Apple's new operating system OSX Mavericks.

- Also ships with iLife and iWork which contains Pages, Numbers and Keynote.

Prices:

13-inch with 4GB memory, 128GB of flash storage: $1,599.

13-inch with 8GB memory, 256GB of flash storage: $1,849.

13-inch with 8GB memory, 512GB of flash storage: $2,199.

15-inch with 8GB memory, 256GB flash storage: $2,499.

15-inch with 16GB memory, 512GB flash storage: $3,199.

MacPro

(MacPro is Apple's new desktop computer).

Ships: December

Price: Starts at $3,999

Prices start at $3,999.

Specs:

- Intel Xeon processors with 4, 6, 8 or 12 cores with Turbo Boost speeds of up to 3.9GHz.

- Two workstation-class FirePro GPUS, with up to 12GB of video memory.

- Contains up to seven teraflops of computing power and eight times graphic performance of previous models.

- Contains six Thunderbolt ports, PCIe based flash storage delivering up to 1.2GBps.

- Ultra fast ECC memory which runs at 1866MHz with four channel memory controller giving it up to 60GBps of memory bandwidth (twice the amount of previous models).

- Apple claims it is as quit as a Mac Mini.

- Comes preloaded with OS X Mavericks.

Prices:

12GB memory and 256GB of flash storage: $3,999.

16GB memory and 256GB of flash storage: $5,299.

iLife and iWork

Ships: Today

Price: Free with any new purchase

Free!

Specs:

- Unified file format allows for real-time collaboration regardless of what brand device you're using.

- All iWork and iLife apps such as GarageBand, iMovie and Pages feature 64-bit for faster editing and browsing.

- New slideshow features allow you to pause, rewind or fast-forward using gestures.

- Users can order professional quality prints and photo books which can be created using Multi Touch.

- iMovie has been redesigned for simpler library browsing.

- Includes simplified editing tools and sports split-screen picture-in-picture effects.

- iMovie is now available on the iPad and iPhone.

- GarageBand gets a brand new look and Sound Library.

- New Drummer feature allows you to hand pick your drummer that will play along with you. Users can choose from a variety of drummers who can play a variety of beats.

- Can now record up to 32 tracks at a time.

- You can now record third party music app right into Garage Band and AirDrop allows you to wirelessly share your projects with other iOS users.

- iCloud allows you to access your projects across devices.

Prices:

Free for all existing Mavericks and iOS 7 users and also comes free with every new Mac purchase.