Apple Unveils New MacBook Air, Pro

By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO

Reuters

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke onstage at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2012 in San Francisco on Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO?Apple Inc. unveiled its next-generation MacBook Air and MacBook Pro portable computers, with improvements that include adding new Intel Corp. processors, at the company's annual conference for software developers.

Apple shaved $100 from the price of most of the MacBook Airs with the exception of the entry level model which is still at $999. The new, thinner MacBook Pro starts at $1,199. Apple said the models are shipping immediately.

Monday's big conference for developers ends months of speculation about Apple's key hardware and software initiatives.

The announcements also included the next version of Apple's operating system for iPhones and iPads, iOS 6, with more than 200 new features and significant enhancements to Siri.

IOS 6 will include Apple's own mobile mapping software to compete with software from Google, whose maps have been the default on the iPhone for years.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, world-wide marketing head Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall, Apple's senior vice president for iOS software, were among taking the stage at the Worldwide Developer Conference.

The annual event, besides serving as a showcase for new products, can be a barometer of how well the technology trend-setter is maintaining its cool. Developers race to land tickets, and this year the 5,000 or so that were offered sold out in a record hour and 43 minutes, compared with 10 hours in 2011.

Getty Images

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of world-wide product marketing, announced the new MacBook Pro.

Apple is working hard to please the attendees. Executives had been preparing for months and rehearsing throughout the weekend, according to people familiar with the matter.

The event comes as Apple's influence among developers and the technology industry at large has never been higher. Despite the growth of competing devices that use Google Inc.'s Android operating system, software developers say they tune their products to Apple and the features it offers.

Apple said Monday that it has more than 400 million accounts on its App Store, and customers have downloaded some 30 billion apps.

For every 10 apps developers build, roughly seven are for Apple's mobile platform, according to recent data from mobile analytics service Flurry.

This year, in response to demand, Apple has lowered its age requirement for attendance from 18 years old to 13.

Still, continuing to meet lofty expectations?and top the hoopla of prior events?remains a challenge for the company. Last year's conference was the last keynote presentation by Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder, who died in October. He unveiled iCloud, the company's ambitious effort to allow consumers to gain access to their media across different Apple devices.

The Apple Evolution

Take a look back at Apple's product unveilings over the years.

Chris Hondros/Getty Images

While developers will be given access to a preliminary version of Apple's new mobile operating system this week, Apple has historically withheld the software from consumers until the release of its next iPhone, which isn't expected until at least later this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company has already unveiled new software, called Mountain Lion, that will power its next computers. It will be available in next month for $19.99 from the Mac App store.

Many of that operating system's features?such as notifications and a wireless video-syncing feature called AirPlay?are borrowed from the software that runs iPhones and iPads, as Apple tries to spread the buzz it generates in the mobile market to the company's older computer line and other devices.

Write to Jessica E. Vascellaro at jessica.vascellaro@wsj.com

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