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Until now, buyers have been reluctant to shell out extra cash even for iPads with slower 3G connections. The cheaper WiFi-only model, with much more limited Web access, is by far Apple's top-selling one today.
An updated version of the WiFi-only model remains at $499. The most expensive 4G model, with 64 gigabytes of storage, will go for $829. The previous iPad2 with 3G also sold for $629 to $829. The cheapest model of the previous-generation iPad 2 now retails at $399.
"The iPhone 4S showed us that Apple doesn't need to out-do itself with new product designs to continue extending its domination of a category," said CCS Insight analyst John Jackson.
In an apparent departure from naming conventions, Apple's third-generation tablet will not be called the iPad 3, but simply referred to as the latest iPad, a small point that several analysts and executives noticed and pointed out.
Forrester analyst Frank Gillet said most of Apple's other products, such as the iPod or the MacBook Pro, do not warrant new appellations every time they go through an upgrade. Apple may even drop the numerical extension for the iPhone, he added.
Regardless of the name, the company is counting on a warm reception to its latest tablet to fend off an increasingly aggressive challenge from tablets powered by Google Inc's Android technology, with Microsoft Corp software-driven devices slated to come soon. "Everyone's been wondering who will come out with a product that's more amazing than the iPad 2," Cook said.
"Stop wondering: We are."
POST-PC ERA
Earlier in the proceedings, Cook again held forth on what he called a "post-PC world," in which users move increasingly away from traditional desktop and laptop computing and toward an array of portable devices, including tablets.
Smartphones and tablets are starting to eat into PC sales as mobile technology gets more advanced and available content expands.
Some experts believe mobile devices, as they get more powerful, will eventually displace PCs in many markets, hurting business for the likes of Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc.
The global tablet user base reached 67 million in 2011, according to researcher Strategy Analytics. Analysts expect double-digit growth in tablet sales in coming years.
Cook also announced that the company's new $99 Apple TV set-top box, a concept that late CEO Steve Jobs had called a "hobby," now supports high-definition 1080p screen technology.
"Last year alone we sold 172 million post-PC devices," Cook told the audience at the Yerba Buena Center in downtown San Francisco, Apple's preferred venue for product unveilings.
"And this made up 76 percent of our revenues. This is incredible."
Cook's performance was again the subject of scrutiny. The CEO replaced famed showman Jobs after the co-founder's October death, and has since drawn several comparisons in terms of onstage charisma.
Some in Wednesday's audience found the event wanting.
"This iPad 3 launch is horribly boring. Steve, I miss you terribly," Salesforce's Benioff tweeted at the end of the proceedings. "Tim Cook didn't thank or remember Steve Jobs at iPad3 launch. There would be no iPad 3 without Steve Jobs."
(Additional reporting Noel Randewich in San Francisco, Nicola Leske and Sinead Carew in New York, and Bill Rigby in Seattle, Writing by Edwin Chan; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Tim Dobbyn)
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