iPad Pro coming this week

Apple’s giant new iPad set to hit Australian shelves on Friday, but it won’t come cheap.

Apple’s iPad Pro will be available for pre-order in Australia this Thursday and the tech giant has finally released detailed pricing for its new workplace gadget.

The iPad Pro, which features a 12.9-inch retina screen and shiny new A9X chip, will be available in a Wi-Fi only model at $1249 with 32GB of storage, up to $1699 for 128GB and 4G LTE SIM-enabled in three different colours - silver, gold, and space grey.

Apple is also selling its Pencil and Smart Keyboard accessories separately for $165 and $269 respectively. The devices are expected to be in Australian stores “later this week”, which should mean Friday.

Microsoft’s rival tablet device, its 12.3-inch Surface Pro 4, clocks in at $1349 including a stylus and 128GB storage.

Apple says this week’s rollout is occurring in over 40 countries, including Australia, the US, UK, China, and Japan.

Meanwhile an interview published overnight in Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper Apple chief Tim Cook said that the iPad Pro would be a full replacement for a computer.

“I think if you’re looking at a PC, why would you buy a PC anymore? No really, why would you buy one?” Mr Cook said.

“Yes, the iPad Pro is a replacement for a notebook or a desktop for many, many people. They will start using it and conclude they no longer need to use anything else, other than their phones.”

The CEO did admit there would be some issues created for Apple’s own products, like its iPad Mini for example.

“I think it clearly creates some cannibalisation — which we knew would occur — but we don’t really spend any time worrying about that, because as long as we cannibalise ourselves, it’s fine,” Mr Cook said.