Apple's new iDevices say: Small is beautiful, too

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro also boasts a antireflective coating like the 12.9-inch model, which Apple says is less reflective than the display on the 9.7-inch iPad Air 2 and also 25 percent brighter. It is expected to be the spiritual successor to the iPad Air 2, and was widely rumored to be named the iPad Air 3 in the past.

After the phone's announcement, Apple fans took to social media to share a range of opinions about the more compact but still powerful iPhone - not all of them enthusiastic about the latest offering.

"Whether you choose the 12.9-inch model or the new 9.7-inch model, iPad Pro is more capable, versatile, and portable than anything that's come before". It has the same high-powered chip as the iPad Pro, the same four-speaker set-up for audio, and the same camera that's in the iPhone 6s.

"It is a large enough display to get all your work done, but easy to carry around", said Apple vice-president Phil Schiller. It also has the TouchID fingerprint sensor to support Apple pay. The design of the device looks similar to the iPhone 5S while it packs some powerful internals. Compared with the iPhone 5S, Apple said the iPhone SE has a two times faster CPU and three times faster GPU performance, as well as better battery life.

The new phone, dubbed the iPhone SE, has the same basic shape as the iPhone 5, which the company first introduced in 2012.

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The smaller, new iPad starts at $899 for the 32GB model, $1049 for the 128GB and $1399 for the largest 256GB.

That does not mean that there should be no 4-inch iPhone.

Some people just love small phones, said Joswiak - as evidenced by the more than 30 million 4-inch iPhones sold in 2015. It comes with 4 metallic finish colours namely silver, space grey, gold and rose gold.

All of these new Apple products will launch on 31 March, and are available to pre-order directly from Apple from 24 March.