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Apple Store shows new iPads after going offline briefly

The online store was down for a few hours on Monday morning, but came back with two new iPads.

Sean Keane Former Senior Writer
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Sean Keane
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Apple came right back with two new iPads in tow.

Apple/Screenshot by CNET

Editor's note, March 18: Apple has announced two new iPads. Starting at $499 (£479, AU$779) for the 64GB model, the new iPad Air features a 10.5-inch Retina display, an A12 Bionic processor and support for the Apple Pencil. It replaces the 10.5-inch iPad Pro from 2017, which is no longer sold. The new iPad Mini, starting at $399 (£399, AU$599) for the 64GB version, also has the A12 chip and Pencil support, but is otherwise nearly identical to the iPad Mini 4 it replaces. The previous version of this story from March 18 follows.


After a brief hiatus Monday morning, the Apple Store came back online around 5:30 a.m. PT with a pair of new iPads to buy -- a 10.5-inch iPad Air and refreshed iPad Mini.

The debuts come a week ahead of Apple's March 25 event, which is expected to focus on the company's Netflix-like streaming service or its news service.

The Apple Store going down typically precedes the arrival of new hardware, as old listings are removed and new ones added.

Ahead of Monday's announcement, we got a hint that Apple might reveal hardware updates through a Saturday tweet by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, as previously reported by 9to5Mac.

"If Apple was to be planning, say, new iPad and iMac announcements for this week, it would make a real statement about how much it wants to focus its March 25th event on its news and video services," he wrote.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Back in December, we heard rumors that Apple would launch a pair of lower-priced iPad models -- a 7.9-inch model and another that's more than 10 inches -- in 2019.

First published March 18 at 2:27 a.m. PT.
Updated at 5:49 a.m. PT: Reflects store's return.

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