New iPad gets crisper screen, 4G speed, other enhancements

SAN FRANCISCO -- Given its market supremacy in tablets, Apple probably doesn't have to wow consumers with a fresh overhaul. But expectations are sky-high just the same.

Apple will discover whether its latest changes will be enough to get consumers to line up at its stores when its new iPad goes on sale a week from Friday.

The iPad that Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced Wednesday is faster and offers a dramatically sharper display but otherwise looks quite similar to past iPads. And whether the new iPad will appeal strictly to folks who haven't yet bought one is a key question facing the iconic company as it launches its first major new product since the 2011 death of co-founder Steve Jobs. Apple is increasingly dependent on "post-PC devices" — including the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch — which accounted for 76% of its revenue last year.

In the almost two years since the original iPad was introduced, Apple's tablet has been a dazzling success. It has sold more than 55 million units, and analysts expect it to top 100 million by year's end. But Apple is facing ever-stiffer competition in the very market that it, more than any other company, has established. By Cook's estimation, more than 100 competitive tablets were introduced in 2011.

While none have come close to matching the iPad's success — the most successful, Amazon's Kindle Fire, has sold in the "millions," according to Amazon — several high-profile products have been introduced or are on the way. These include many of the Galaxy Tab models that Samsung has introduced.

Before the end of the year, Microsoft and its partners are expected to unleash new tablets based on the promising Windows 8 operating system. And more tablets will have the latest Android version, 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich. But Apple maintains a huge advantage in the more than 585,000 apps available in its App Store, including more than 200,000 native iPad apps.

The third-generation iPad — just plain "iPad" rather than the iPad 3 that some expected — adds several souped-up and highly anticipated features. Among them: a far crisper display, zippier processor, voice dictation and the ability to tap into the fastest 4G wireless data networks.

The new iPad is "taken to a whole new level and redefines the category Apple created with the original iPad," Cook said at a press event here.

As with the previous iPad, the new iPad starts at $499 for a Wi-Fi-only model with 16 gigabytes of storage and jumps to $599 for a 32 GB version and $699 for 64 GB. Models that can provide speedy 4G data access when Wi-Fi isn't available go for $629, $729 and $829, respectively. The new iPads will be available on March 16; Apple is taking preorders now.

iPad 2 price drops

Apple is keeping the prior-generation iPad 2 in the lineup, dropping the price to $399 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi version. That might make it somewhat more affordable to schools, an area of emphasis for Apple, which has been pushing digital textbooks lately. Also Wednesday, Apple unveiled a new version of its Apple TV set-top box, which brings Internet movies and TV shows — and music from your computer — to the TV set.

The latest box upgrades the high-definition video from 720p to a sharper 1080p and sells for the same $99. The Apple TV box will also be available on March 16. The company said nothing about rumors that it might ultimately bring out a full Apple-branded television set.