With iPad Sales Falling, Apple Announces Smaller iPad Pro

For eight straight quarters, iPad sales have been on the decline. In an attempt to turn things around, Apple today announced a brand-new, smaller 9.7-inch iPad Pro featuring a retina display.

This is a smaller version of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Apple also said it has sold 200 million 9.7-inch iPads already, making it the most popular tablet size for the company.

During a press event today, Apple said the new iPad Pro has a large enough screen to get work done, but is small enough to carry. It weighs less than a pound.

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is powered by the A9X chip, which Apple said is its fastest tablet chip ever. In terms of its display, it sports what Apple calls "true tone" color, which measures color temperature of ambient light, and adjusts the display to match.

Apple's new iPad starts at $600 for the 32 GB version, with 128 GB ($750) and 256 GB ($900) models available as well. Additionally, Apple announced a price drop for the iPad Air 2; it will now start at $400, a price drop of $100. The iPad Mini will now start at $270.

The new 9.7-inch iPad Pro goes on sale March 31. Apple also today announced a new iPhone, the iPhone SE.

Apple's event has now wrapped up; you can get a full recap of today's announcements over at GameSpot sister site CNET, which also snapped the photos in this story.