Apple's promotional event began promptly at 10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. EST with an introductory video about its design process, according to the ABC News blog. Apple big wigs Eddie Cue, Phil Schiller, and Tim Cook were all there to welcome members of the press and other guests as they unveiled their latest products, including the iPad 5 (now called the "air") and the iPad mini. The day's biggest surprise was a name change.
Cook was the first speaker, ABC reported.
"You're going to see some amazing products today," he told the crowd before praising the success of the iPhone 5s and 5c launch, as well as, the widespread download of Apple's new software iOS. He even took a shot at competitors.
"The competition is confused -- they brought you netbooks, now they are trying to make tablets into PCs," Cook said.
Craig Federigh lectured on OS X Mavericks, announcing it would be available Tuesday for free, according to ABC News.
After Phil Schiller finished his presentations on the latest line of Macbooks, some of which are available to ship Tuesday. Eddie Cue and Roger Rosner summarized the latest in iPhoto, iLife, iPages, and iCloud. Cook re-emerged to discuss the iPad.
"The iPad is used more than any of the rest," said Cook announced Apple has sold over 170 million iPads. "It is used more than 4x more than the other tablets put together."
Video depicted different ways iPads have been used, ABC News reported. Footage switched to shots of the iPad 5, which has been renamed the "iPad Air".
Paper thin and at one-pound, the "lightest tablet in the world," the "Air" operates on the same processing chip as the iPhone 5s. It can run for 10 hours without charge and comes in silver, white, space gray, and black. An 8 megapixel camera represents an upgrade from the iPad 4. Starting price is $499/16 GB and $623 with cellular, according to ABC. Yours will ship on Nov. 1.
The iPad mini 2 was presented next. It will feature a retina display, an A7 chip, 100-hour battery life, and a price tag of $399. The iPad mini 1 will now cost $299. The mini 2 will ship Nov. 1, according to ABC News.
