March 18 (UPI) — Apple unveiled its new iPad Air and iPad mini Monday, adding keyboard and Apple Pencil support to both items for the first time.
The 10.5-inch iPad Air and the 7.9-inch iPad mini became available for online ordering Monday and are expected to be in stores next week, the company said.
Both received improved cameras with low-light performance and advanced sensors for immersive augmented reality experiences.
The new Apple Pencil compatibility allows note-taking and drawing and photo retouching.
“iPad continues to provide magical new experiences for a growing range of uses where it is the absolute best device, from playing games in augmented reality to note-taking and drawing with Apple Pencil, from streaming HD movies and editing 4K films to learning to develop apps with Swift Playgrounds,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
The announcement marks the first new iPad mini since 2015. Prices for the smaller device start at $399 with WiFi and $529 for a cellular model. The iPad Air is $499 with WiFi and $in 629 with cellular.
Both will come in silver, space gray and gold finishes in 64GB and 256GB sizes.
Apple unveiled its new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro in October.
