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Apple has barely had time to restock the shelves since its latest iPhone launch but that hasn't stopped the tech giant unveiling its latest iPad - renamed the iPad Air.
The announcement has added serious fuel to the fire in the battle of the tablets in the run up to Christmas and comes just hours after Nokia entered the tablet market with its Lumia 2520 and Microsoft started selling its new Surface devices.
The iPad Air is thinner, lighter, more powerful than ever before, Apple said.
It has 9.7-inch Retina display with a smaller bezel and is 43 per cent thinner than the previous model, making it more comfortable to hold. It also has a 5MP camera and dual microphones for the first time.
Apple announced that the device will become available in mid-December in four colours - silver, white, 'space grey' and black. Prices will start from $499 for a 16GB model with UK prices starting at £399.
The tablet is 7.5mm thick and weighs just 1lb, compared to the 1.4lb previous model, making it the 'lightest full size tablet in the world'.
The tablet also has Apple's A7 chip, that was just launched in the iPhone 5S and is twice as fast as before.The graphics are 72 per cent faster than the very first iPad.
It's almost a year to to the day since Apple's CEO Tim Cook unveiled Apple's first generation iPad mini.
Speaking to the crowd at San Francisco’s Yuerba Buena Center for the Arts, he said: ‘You’re going to see some amazing products this morning.’
Apple also unveiled a new iPad Mini with a new high resolution 7.9inch Retina display, which also has the new A7 chip from the iPhone 5s.
It boasts 10 hours of battery life, improved wi-fi and better LTE support, and is available in silver, white, space grey and black, contrary to rumours that suggested it would come in a rainbow of colours like the iPhone C.
The new model will cost from $399 in the U.S. and £319 in the UK, and will also become available in November, although a precise date is yet to be announced.
The original iPad mini, which previously cost $329, will now cost $299 - 'the lowest price for an iPad yet.'
However, neither new iPad comes with Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
Tim Cook said the latest iPad is Apple's 'most advanced technology in a revolutionary and magical device.
'The iPad is one of the most successful products in Apple's history and in the whole industry. Earlier this month Apple sold its 170 millionth iPad.
He said: 'Now everybody seems to be making a tablet, even some of the doubters iPad is used more than any of the rest. iPad is used over FOUR times more than all of those other tablets put together.'
Experts had predicted that the iPad mini would be launched in a number of bright colours and would also feature a camera upgrade from 5MP to 8MP or even 12MP - to make it a market leader.
Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 model is the only tablet from a major retailer to currently feature a high-quality, 8MP camera.
Apple also revealed the latest version of its Mac OS X software, claiming it can give current laptops an extra hour of battery life, as well as boosting graphics performance.
The software, called Mavericks, includes Apple’s controversial Maps app for the first time, and its iBooks electronic reading app.
Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, said: 'The team has been hard at work on the latest release of OS X, and this one is a doozy'.
In the West Coast, Cook also hit at out at Google and Microsoft, saying: 'Our competition is confused, they are trying to make tablets in PCs and PCs into tablets. We have a very clear direction and am ambitious goal. We still believe in the PC market.’
Speaking about the latest software launch, Federighi said: 'It's a fantastic release, extends your battery life has great features from across the system.'
'We're reinvented the way we distribute OS 10 now as easy as downloading an app.
'Today we're going to revolutionise pricing. Today we announce a new era for the Mac. Today we're announcing that Mavericks is free,' he said.
The free upgrade is available for all Apple Mac users from today, he said
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