U.S. carriers offer iPad Pro 10.5, 12.9-in tablets

Apple has now unveiled a raft of updates to some of its most popular product ranges, including the iPad, iMac and MacBook.

A cynical view would be that this was to justify a high price tag but, after listening to the speaker in action, the comparison seems justified.

The iOS 11 will be all about subtle changes, some artificial intelligence and a very clear advantage for iPad Pro devices. That means updating products for some markets that aren't growing as fast as they once did. Other nice bits include a new document scanner for the default "Notes" application.

As it stands, it looks like Apple is trying to turn the iPad Pro into a laptop, and an extremely primitive one at that. The processor has had a power boost, with Apple replacing the previous A9X chip with the snappier A10X Fusion, which it claims is 30% faster. They can add either iPad Pro to their accounts for as low as $10 per month on U.S. Cellular's Total Plans with No Hidden Fees - no activation fees, no monthly device connection charges, no phone upgrade fees and no data overage fees. The new 10.5-inch model reduces the borders by almost 40 percent to fit into an incredibly compact package that still weighs just one pound.

The 10.5-inch iPad Pro is available in silver, space gray, gold and rose gold.

The 12-inch MacBook got the largest makeover with a new 16GB RAM option, up from a maximum of 8GB, Kaby Lake processor, and inherited the keyboard mechanism from the 2016 MacBook Pro.

IFixit further noted that the Touch Bar of the new MacBook Pro still remains "difficult to replace", and with all of the core components - processor, RAM, storage - soldered to the logic board, and the battery glued solidly into the case, it's a very unfriendly machine to fix. It's a small power bump from last year's MacBook, which quite modestly endowed for a £1,000+ laptop. This makes scrolling more fluid, and reduces latency when using the Apple Pencil to draw.

The A10X appears to be, once again, a significant engineering feat that should give Apple, as well as third-party iPad app developers, an incredibly robust canvas upon which to craft great, feature-packed applications.

Read our thoughts on the 12-inch Apple MacBook, which starts at £1,249. Microsoft. As the new iPad shifts towards an experience that feels more like a MacBook, the novelty of an ultra versatile Surface Pro might be lost.

Like Milanesi, Dawson and Gillett cited several iOS 11 feature additions and enhancements that they said will improve the iPad Pro's efficacy as a computer. Laptops and desktop computers are a different story for Apple, which has copped flak for not offering the industry norm annual updates for its MacBooks, iMacs and Pro machines.

Overall, the news is pretty much what we expected: Intel's components are the only major change here.

What I do appreciate (lots) is the excellent speaker system that iPad Pro models have come with. Just about 469 grammes for the lightest model, which still manages to store 64GB of storage. Even so, with a 2.3GHz dual core i5 processor, it's anything but basic. The price for the top-end iMac comes in at a not insignificant £2,799. It's also worth pointing out that the Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil accessories designed for the new iPads are available for purchase separately, not bundled with the tablets themselves. Tell us your thoughts down in the comments right away. Then there's Drag and Drop, which automatically opens two apps on the screen when swiped to opposite sides.

Sprint iPad Pro tablet series features the same advanced front- and back-facing cameras as iPhone 7, including a 12-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization and a 7-megapixel FaceTime HD camera, as well as a four-speaker audio system.

Augmented reality, along with VR, are the future of tech and Apple understands this very well.