The iPad Pro includes a stylus called Apple Pencil designed for high-precision illustration

THE new iPad Pro includes a stylus called Apple Pencil designed for high-precision illustration and 3D design applications.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - SEPTEMBER 9: A man uses the new Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro after an Apple special event at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium September 9, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Apple Inc. unveiled latest iterations of its smart phone, forecasted to be the 6S and 6S Plus and announced an update to its Apple TV set-top box. Stephen Lam/ Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

THE new iPad Pro has the power and capabilities to replace a laptop computer, Apple said.

Cook called the device “the biggest news in iPad since the iPad.”

The new tablet with a 12.9-inch display also includes a detachable keyboard and stylus, sold separately.

The device features “desktop-class performance” and operates faster than 80 per cent of portable PCs that shipped in the last 12 months, said Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller.

“It is thin and light enough to work all day and be taken everywhere,” Schiller said of the new iPad.

Apple has reinvented ... the pencil?

The iPad Pro includes a stylus called Apple Pencil designed for high-precision illustration and 3D design applications.

Avi Greengart at the research firm Current Analysis tweeted that the new tablets “are aimed directly at enterprises. That’s a long sales cycle, but could finally stop (the tablet market’s) sales slide.”

Apple said it had partnered with Cisco Systems Inc. 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.

The battery life is so important, they made a display.