Apple's new iPad Air 2 tablet has an inbuilt software-based sim rather than a removable plastic card, which could offer customers greater freedom in choosing their mobile supplier.
Most mobile devices currently connect to phone networks using a sim card supplied by a mobile network. The cards allow mobile providers to bind customers to their service by "locking" the devices, keeping them connected to a particular carrier even if a customer wants to end his or her contract early.
"The Apple sim gives you the flexibility to choose from a variety of short-term plans from selected carriers in the US and UK right there on your iPad," Apple said on its iPad Air 2 site.
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The new tablet was unveiled yesterday by Tim Cook in Cupertino, California. As anticipated, the iPad Air 2 looks very much like its predecessor from the front, but at just 6.1mm thick is significantly slimmer than the 7.5mm iPad Air 1.
Apple also highlighted the quality of the redesigned "Retina" display, which it says offers "more vivid colours and greater contrast". The screen also has an antireflective coating so that users see more of the image on the screen and less of their own reflection.
The iPad Air 2 uses Apple's new A8X processor, which the company says will improve graphics performance. Apple says the new device is "as powerful as many personal computers".
The tablet also comes in gold, as had been widely predicted, and improves on the battery life of the company's previous offerings.
Apple also used the launch to showcase its new iPad mini 3, a scaled-down version of its flagship tablet.
For most commentators though, the biggest innovation is the software-based sim. The technology could help to drive mobile costs down, The Guardian says, by offering customers "greater freedom in the mobile phone market by allowing [them] to switch mobile phone networks on-the-fly, if and when a network provides better service or at lower cost".
"The 'Apple sim' is huge news," Ben Wood, chief of research for CCS Insight tweeted. "[It] shows the strength of Apple's hand with carriers – no other manufacturer could have done that."
iPad Air 2: Apple leaks details hours before launch
16 October
In a rare blunder, Apple leaked details of the forthcoming iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 last night, just hours ahead of the new tablets' formal launch today.
New images and product specs went out on iTunes and were spotted by eagle-eyed enthusiasts at 9to5Mac.
Most of the updates to the devices appear to align closely what had been predicted by tech analysts in the lead up to the launch. The two new tablets incorporate much of the new technology that was introduced in the two iPhone 6 smartphones unveiled last month.
The leaked images appear to confirm that both new tablets will be nearly identical to their predecessors in terms of their design.
Innovations include the addition of Touch ID sensors in the home button to allow users to unlock the devices and make purchases just with their fingerprints.
The devices also appear to come in gold, as well as black and white, bringing their colour palette in line with the iPhone range. According to the leaks, they will both be fitted with a more powerful A8X processor and will have improved camera optics.
The iPads will also be able to take pictures in Burst Mode (first introduced with the iPhone 5s), which allows users to take photos at up to 10 frames per second, to help capture fast action photos.
Apple CEO Tim Cook will have a lot to cover at the launch event, as Apple is also expected to announce a line new of Macs and talk about the latest OS X Yosemite release dates and give more information on Apple Pay.
iPad Air 2: will new software revive iPad's fortunes?
14 October
The iPad Air 2, which Apple is expected to unveil this week, may have more in common with a laptop than with previous models of the company's flagship tablet, according to the latest rumours.
All will become clear at an Apple event due to be held in Cupertino on Thursday, at which the company is expected to unveil devices designed to rekindle excitement about the iPad, which has recently recorded falling sales figures.
Although the new iPads will almost certainly generate less intense interest than the hotly anticipated iPhone 6, the company has a lot riding on its new products.
"Apple knows that its tablet game can't match the iPhone in terms of pure hype," reports The Independent, "but with sales of the iPad slowly dipping they'll be looking to give people some good reasons to upgrade.
iPad challenges
Although the iPad still brings in almost $6bn in revenue, sales have been falling in the past year. In some ways the device is a victim of its own success: the popularity of the original iPad led other manufacturers to introduce rival devices at lower prices – and also led to demand for smartphones with larger screens.
Apple resisted that trend for as long as it could, but last month the iPhone 6 Plus arrived with a 5.5-inch screen – and even the smaller iPhone 6 had a 4.7-inch screen, significantly larger than that of its predecessor.
For many would-be iPad customers, those screens are big enough.
"Why buy an iPad when you could have an iPhone with a screen that doesn’t seem that much smaller than an iPad mini?" asks Business Insider. "The space between a phone and PC is smaller now than in 2010 primarily as the phone has become more powerful and larger."
iPad Air 2 or iPad Pro?
As Apple attempts to breath new life into its tablet line-up some analysts suggest that the company will reveal two devices, one with the iOS mobile operating system familiar to current iPhone and iPad users, and the other running MacOS X, which until now has only been used on laptop and desktop computers.
"Sources in the supply chain say that Apple has two 12.9-inch tablet prototypes in development: one is a 2-in-1 device and the other is a regular tablet," reports DigiTimes, a Taiwanese website. "However, whether Apple will release both devices to the market or just one, still remains unclear."
The more basic model has speculatively been referred to as the iPad Air 2, while the more powerful one has been called the iPad Pro. These names would fit into Apple's naming conventions, but the company has not commented on what it is expected to unveil next week, let alone what the new product or products will be called.
The technology website Re/code, which has a strong track record for publishing accurate advance information about Apple launches, says the company will hold an event on 16 October at which it will unveil new iPads, iMac desktop computers and updates to its MacOS X operating system.
Even if they are confirmed next week, the iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro are not expected to go on sale until next year.
Unlike the iPhone 6, which was comprehensively described and dissected in the weeks leading up to its launch, the iPad Air 2 remains shrouded in mystery. Below is a collection of the latest news, leaks and rumours relating to what Apple's new tablet may have in store.
Slim frame
The latest rumours suggest that the iPad Air 2 will be slimmer and lighter than its predecessor, following in the footsteps of the iPhone 6. "The new iPad Air manages to measure up at only 7mm thin according to Tinhte, which is half a millimeter thinner than the current generation, and right in between the iPhone 6 Plus and the iPhone 6," says Techcrunch. Tinhte, a Vietnamese blog with a good track-record for Apple inside information, claims to have got its hands on a prototype of the device. Even if these particular claims are unproven, no one would be surprised if Apple shaved a bit of weight and depth off its full-sized tablet.
Touch ID
The same source also suggests that Apple will introduce fingerprint readers to the iPad Air 2, bringing its tablet offering into line with the iPhone 6. The Touch ID sensor, built into the home button, allows users to sign in and authorise payments by scanning a finger or thumb. Again, it would be more surprising if Apple didn't roll out this popular feature across its product line-up.
Other design changes
Apple has tended to use a similar design for two iterations of each product, Expert Reviews' David Ludlow notes. It is therefore likely, he says, that the iPad Air 2 will look roughly like the current model. This theory is supported by the most recent leaked images of the device, which look similar to the original iPad Air. Some modifications to the volume buttons, the rear panel and the speaker grille at the bottom of the tablet are possible, but most analysts anticipate that the device's design changes will be fairly minor.
A8X processor
The Taiwanese blog Apple.club.tw has published an image which appear to show an upgraded processor chip in the iPad Air 2 frame. According to the Daily Mail, the illicit shot "suggests that the A8X chip on the tablet is a faster upgrade to the A8 chip on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus".
Gold finish
According to Bloomberg, as well as black and white, (or, as Apple has it, "space grey" and "silver") the next iPad will come in gold. This will bring the iPad's colour palette into line with the company's range of iPhones.
Apple has used colour to try to boost sales of products a number of times before, Bloomberg notes, most successfully with the introduction of "candy-coloured" iMacs in 1999. More recently, the company attempted the same trick with the iPhone 5C, but sales didn't live up to Apple's expectations.
High-definition screen
The original iPad Air's much-touted "retina" displays were a big leap forward for the tablet. According to Apple, the resolution on a retina screen is such that it is impossible to make out individual pixels when the device is used from a normal distance. Consequently, one might think that there isn't much room for improvement in this department for the iPad Air 2 – but that didn't stop Apple introducing a "Retina HD" screen for the iPhone 6. Where the iPad Air 2's screen will improve on its predecessor, Bloomberg says, is by introducing an anti-glare coating, making it easier to use outdoors.
Camera
The iPad camera has remained pretty much the same since 2012, when the third-generation iPad upgraded the rear-facing camera to a five-megapixel lens. Expert Reviews says that the iPad Air 2 may include an eight-megapixel iSight camera (the same camera as the iPhone 6) and is likely to use the sensor that is currently employed in the iPhone 5S.
iPad Air 2 price
Over the years, Apple has held its iPads at roughly the same price. If the iPad Air 2 follows this trend, the wifi-only 16GB version will cost £399, 32GB will cost £479, 64GB will cost £559 and 128GB will cost £639. The mobile-enabled version of each device will cost about £100 more.
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