Phil Schiller, senior VP of worldwide marketing for Apple, introduces the iPad Pro with 9.7-inch display during an event at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California March 21, 2016.
Phil Schiller, senior VP of worldwide marketing for Apple, introduces the iPad Pro with 9.7-inch display during an event at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California March 21, 2016. Reuters/Stephen Lam

Apple introduced the newest member of its iPad lineup, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, on Monday at its March 2016 event in California.

The tablet will be available for pre-order from March 24, from Apple online and physical retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers. Here a few things you should know before you click the 'order' button or swipe your credit card:

Price

The base model of the 9.7 inch iPad Pro, which sports 32GB (Wi-Fi only) of internal memory, starts at US$599 (AU$789), while the Wi-Fi + Cellular model will be available at US$729 (AU$960).

The Wi-Fi-only 128GB variant of the iPad Pro costs US$749 (AU$987), whereas the 256GB model will be priced at US$899 (AU$1184).

Release Date

The 9.7-inch Apple iPad Pro will go on sale on March 31.

“It is the ultimate upgrade for existing iPad users and replacement for PC users,” Philip Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple Inc, said in a press note.

Specifications and features

Apple’s latest addition to its iPad lineup packs an improved Retina display with True Tone technology, which dynamically adjusts the white balance. The device sports a 12-megapixel iSight camera with support for Live Photos along with a 5MP FaceTime HD camera.

Weighing less than a pound, the newest member of the iPad Pro family is just 6.1mm thin. The slate will be available in a new Rose Gold colour variant, in addition to Silver, Space Gray and Gold.

Just like its bigger sibling, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro will be powered by an Apple A9X chipset. Moreover, the device packs a massive 4GB of RAM.

Additionally, the iPad Pro will house a four-speaker audio system.

The smaller iPad Pro also come with support for Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, both of which have to be purchased separately. Apple Pencil is available for US$99 (AU$130), while the Smart Keyboard in Charcoal Gray costs US$149 (AU$196).

Availability

The new iPad Pro 9.7 will be available in Australia, New Zealand, the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, China (Wi-Fi models only), Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Hong Kong and Virgin Islands, Apple confirmed.

The smaller iPad Pro will also be released in select European countries including Spain, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as the UAE and India at the beginning of April.

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