Apple thinks you'll replace your Windows PC with one of its new iPads

Apple just announced a new, 9.7-inch iPad Pro - smaller than the original, gigantic 12.9" iPad Pro model, but with the same support for the Apple Pencil stylus and with a better camera.

The new iPad Pro starts at $599 for a 32GB model. It starts shipping on March 31st, with preorders opening this week.

Apple is doubling down in the iPad Pro's ability to replace a traditional laptop, in both the bigger and smaller sizes. And the company isn't shy about using it to steal away Microsoft users.

"You might not know this, but the majority of iPad Pro users are coming from a Windows PC," says Apple's Phil Schiller.

At 9.7 inches, the new iPad Pro has the same screen size as Apple's very first iPad, released in 2010. But just like its bigger cousin, the new iPad Pro is designed around productivity and high-end graphics and audio.

Schiller hypes up the new iPad Pro's specs, including an A9X chip, which he bills as the company's fastest processor ever. It also has "pro audio" speakers, and tons of graphical juice under the hood for gaming.

"That's more than an [Microsoft] Xbox 360, in a device you hold in your hand," Schiller says.

The new iPad Pro also boasts a retina screen, including a new technology that adjusts the screen's reflectiveity based on the level of light, to make it more like working with a sheet of real, actual paper.

It also sports a 12 megapixel camera that also lets you take 4K super-high resolution video, which is better than the original iPad Pro.

It appears that this smaller iPad Pro replaces the iPad Air in Apple's product line. The iPad Air hasn't gotten an update since late 2014, making this a long-overdue refresh.

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