Apple launches new iPads, and MacOS operating system - but Apple iMac 5K screens steal the show

Thinner, lighter iPads with better cameras and new MacOS X operating system put in the shade by 5K Retina display Apple iMacs

Apple has launched a slew of new products and unveiled a long-awaited new update to MacOS X - dubbed Yosemite - at a launch in San Francisco, California today.

The iPad Air 2 is - perhaps predictably - even thinner than the original (thin) iPad Air. Apple claim it is 18 per cent thinner, which it achieved by laminating the components in the device together in order to remove unnecessary air space.

The Apple A8X microprocessor, based on ARM, offers 40 per cent fast performance and will also have a M8 motion co-processor running alongside it to handle movement data and a new barometer for measuring elevation. The screen is 56 per centless reflective, according to Apple, while the device will offer a less stunning ten-hour battery life.

The eight mega-pixel camera has also been improved and can offer all the camera modes of the latest iPhones - launched just last month. These include "time lapse", "panorama", "burst" and "slo mo" video. It should also take better pictures in low light.

Most intriguing of all, perhaps, is the Touch ID fingerprint sensor, which Apple claims could be used to help authenticate online purchases. It will ship with iOS 8.1 - the hastily updated version of iOS 8 that was only launched last month.

At the same time, though, the iPad Air 2 is not cheap. The wi-fi-only model will start at $499, while the wi-fi and mobile network 16 gigabyte (GB} model will cost $629 - about £400. The 32GB model (as with last month's iPhone 6 launch) has been dropped and the 64GB model will cost $729 and the 128GB model $829.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also unveiled the iPad Mini 3, which also has Touch ID authentication, a gold colour option and starting price of $399. Its other key new features include a 7.9-inch Retina display, a five megapixel iSight camera, 1080p HD video recording, a FaceTime HD camera and 802.11n wi-fi with MIMO.

However, the iPad Mini 3 will not get a new microprocessor - it will sport the same A7 CPU as the iPad Mini 2, but is paired with the M7 motion co-processor.

The original, non-Retina display iPad Mini will now start at $249, while the iPad Mini 2 will start at $299. The new iPad Mini 3 will provide 16GB of storage for $399, with the 32GB option dropped and the 64GB model retailing for $499 and the 128GB model at $599. 4G-compatible mobile versions will cost $130 more.

Return of the Mac

Another announcement was the launch of a new series of iMac PCs. Cook kicked off by pointing out that sales increased 18 per cent, year-on-year, far outstripping growth in the rival Windows-based PC market.

The company claims to have brought a new, high-end Retina-branded display to the iMac, with 27-inch screens bearing resolutions of 5,120 by 2,880 pixels - what the company is calling a Retina 5K display. That is not, however, the world's highest resolution display, an accolade that belongs to the few 8K or Ultra-HD televisions that have been manufactured, which offer resolutions of 7,680 by 4,320.

Nevertheless, Apple claims that the 5K iMac screen will offer seven times the number of pixels of a standard 1080p high-definition monitor or television.

Inside, the actual compute power is more humdrum in comparison: the base model will boast a 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) Intel Core i5 microprocessor, AMD Radeon 290X graphics, and a measly memory and storage combination of 8GB of memory and a one terabyte (TB) Fusion drive. The Fusion drive combines a small SSD as an intelligent cache running alongside a conventional hard-disk drive in order to provide solid-state disk (SSD) speeds on the cheap.

The prices for the 5K iMacs, however, aren't cheap and will start at an wallet-watering £2,000. If you want to spend more, build-to-order configurations include a 4GHz Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon R9 M295X graphics card, up to 32GB of memory and either a 3TB Fusion drive or a 1TB SSD.

Launched at the same time as the new iMacs was MacOS X Yosemite, which will be available as a free upgrade for existing Apple Mac users.

New features in MacOS X Yosemite include Continuity and Handoff. These features are intended to enable users to move seamlessly between iMac PCs and iOS devices. Also demonstrated were upgraded versions of Numbers, Keynote and Pages, as well as support for the iCloud Drive that will also support Windows devices. Mail Drop will support file sizes of up to 5GB.