Apple has unveiled a top-of-the-range tablet called the iPad Air that is 20% thinner than the previous version.
The 9.7in (24.6cm) computer is 7.5mm (0.3in) thick and weighs 1lb (469g), which the firm claims is the lightest full-sized tablet on the market.
It is powered by the same A7 chip found in the company's iPhone 5S.
The launch comes at a time when some analysts have suggested that Google's Android is about to overtake Apple's iOS as the bestselling tablet platform.
Apple also announced a new version of its iPad Mini.
Its 7.9in (20cm) screen has been upgraded to feature 2048 by 1536 pixels - the same as the larger model. It is being branded as "retina" to highlight the increased resolution.
Amazon and Google have already announced small tablets - the Kindle Fire HDX and Nexus 7 - with similar high definition displays.
"We've got the retina upgrade to the smaller iPad that many thought should have been there in the first place," Tony Cripps, principal analyst at tech consultants Ovum, reflected after the announcement in San Francisco.
"Market share slip is inevitable because so many rival devices are coming out, which is not necessarily a bad thing as the overall sector is growing.
"Apple does now have a cheaper model thanks to it offering the original iPad Mini at a lower price - but the firm doesn't really want to go to the low-end because that's not where the greatest profit is extracted."
Apple also announced that the latest version of its Mac operating system, Mavericks, would be offered at no cost to owners of computers already running any version of OS X released since 2009. It is the first time the company has not charged for a major Mac OS upgrade.
By contrast the full version of Windows 8.1 is sold for about £100, although it is free to existing Windows 8 users.
Linux-based Ubuntu has always been offered without charge. Chromebook computers also get free upgrades for Google's PC operating system.
New laptops, productivity and leisure apps were also unveiled. However, Apple did not show off a new TV set-top box as some had speculated.
Tablet competition
The California-based firm's most recent financial release said that its iPad range accounted for $25.8bn (£17.6bn) worth of sales in the nine months leading up to July.
That represented 19% of its revenue for the period.
However, Apple acknowledged that the amount of money it was making from the product line was growing three times slower than the growth in unit sales since many customers were opting for its cheaper iPad Mini and iPad 2 models rather than its top-of-the -range "retina display" versions.
It also faces the fact it is losing market share to rivals.
Apple's iOS operating system accounted for 53.9% of all tablets shipped in 2012, according to Gartner.
The tech research firm forecasts that Android will become the market leader with a 49.6% share, versus Apple's 48.6% this year, adding that it expects that gap to widen further in 2014.
However, consultants at IHS iSuppli said those figures needed to be put in context thanks to Apple's success at making money by taking a cut of app sales.
"It is in terms of revenue per active device where Apple's lead is strongest," said the firm's mobile media analyst Jack Kent.
"An iOS device generates around three to four times as much app revenue through Apple's App Store as an Android device through Google Play.
"Apple has so far offered a more compelling range of tablet-specific content, but Google is clearly looking to address this."
He added that many Android tablets, including Amazon's Kindle and most products sold in China, did not have Google's store pre-installed.
Apple's chief executive Tim Cook noted there were now 475,000 apps designed for iPads available through its online marketplace.
But another market watcher suggested that Apple's priority remained securing a "premium" margin on the shop price of its hardware, and that add-on software sales were of secondary interest.
"Some players, like Amazon, can afford to slash prices because they have a different business model based on content and commerce," said Thomas Husson, from the tech industry analysts Forrester.
"While Apple has shared $13bn to developers since 2008, it has made less than $6bn out of apps.

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5 Reasons to Buy the iPad Air:
Words to which you can append the letters “er”: light, thin, fast, cheap. Apple checked those boxes and more at its prosaically dubbed “Special Event“ Tuesday afternoon, trotting out retooled laptops, souped up tablets and a new hard-to-top price for OS X along with several key apps, as in “nada.”

While the new iPads don’t cost nada, the starting price for an iPad is the cheapest it’s ever been — as little as $300 for a 16GB iPad Mini. An extra $100 fetches a new 16GB iPad Mini with a 7.9-inch Retina display and internal specs every bit the equal of the svelte new 9.7-inch A7-powered iPad Air.

Time to buy one? Upgrade your existing model? Wait for better? Let’s talk tablets.

Herewith, the arguments for the iPad Air:

You don’t have an iPad, you’ve been thinking about buying an iPad and you want a hunka hunka burnin’ iPad.

The iPad Air represents Apple’s best and brightest slate: a monster future-proof 64-bit processor, a beautiful 2048-by-1536 Retina display, an aluminum shell that’s 20% thinner than its predecessor with a 43% narrower bezel when held in portrait mode. It’s lost roughly 33% of the prior model’s weight, dropping from 1.4 pounds to just 1 pound, and it’s loaded with a slew of newly gratis productivity apps, from Apple’s Pages to Numbers to Keynote — the entire iWork suite — as well as iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand.

It’s more than a little better than the iPad 2.

See that 16GB iPad 2 still inexplicably listed on the Apple Store for $400? Don’t buy it. I mean it — steer clear at all costs. Maybe Apple made too many and needs to burn through its overstock. Maybe the company’s nuts, who knows. If Apple’s now two-and-a-half year old second-gen iPad were $100, or $200 at most, there’d be an argument. But the differences here, from size to weight and screen resolution to internal specs are stark — worth a lot more than the relatively trivial $100 delta Apple’s charging for the 16GB iPad Air.

$100 is a pittance for two extra inches of sweet, sweet diagonal.

The price difference between the iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina display is $100, whatever price tier you’re eyeballing storage- or cellular-wise. The Air and Retina Mini are identical in all other aspects save one: diagonal screen size — the iPad Air is nearly 10 inches, the iPad Mini nearly eight. The weight difference is inconsequential: an all but indiscernible quarter of a pound. Because the Retina Mini squeezes the same number of pixels into a smaller glass-top area, it wins for overall pixel density, but riddle me this: Would you rather play games like XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Infinity Blade III or Battle of the Bulge on an 8- or 10-inch diagonal fondleslab?

You’re planning to use it as your primary workstation.

This dovetails with the last point: you’ll really, really appreciate that extra screen real estate if you’re planning to use this as a laptop or desktop replacement. Your eyes will thank you if you’re planning to sit for five, six, seven or eight hours on end, tapping a 10-inch screen (instead of an 8-inch one) or typing away on a keyboard staring at the screen in a stand. If the Mini’s really more your speed size-wise, fair enough, but don’t overlook the ergonomic advantages of that 23% screen real estate increase.



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