'Select' Apple resellers take stock of iPad Pro

Device to go on sale in the UK from £679 tomorrow

"Select" UK Apple Authorised resellers will get their paws on the hotly anticipated iPad Pro later this week as it goes on sale in this country from £679.

Apple announced yesterday that its first business-focused tablet device will be available to order online in 40 countries - including the UK - from tomorrow. It will arrive at Apple's retail stores, as well as "select" carriers and Authorised resellers, "later this week", it added.

"The early response to iPad Pro from app developers and our customers has been incredible, and we're excited to get iPad Pro into the hands of customers around the world this week," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

Apple last week posted a 22 per cent annual rise in Q4 revenue but Richard Hollway, chairman of analyst TechMarketView, said the fruity vendor has only scratched the surface when it comes to the enterprise.

"Apple's enterprise business is still tiny. But the potential here is huge particularly with the iPad Pro," he said.

The entry-level Wi-Fi-only model, which comes with 32GB of storage, will go on sale in the UK for £679, compared with a US price of $799. Its Wi-Fi and mobile data counterpart, which comes with 128GB of storage, will be priced at £899.
Both models will be available in silver, gold and ‘space grey'.

The Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, which also go on sale this week, will set customers back an additional £79 and £139, respectively.

Schiller said: "iPad Pro is the most powerful iPad we've ever made, giving users the ability to be even more creative and more productive with the epic 12.9-inch Retina display, powerful 64-bit A9X chip and groundbreaking Apple Pencil and new Smart Keyboard. We can't wait to see what they do with iPad Pro."

The other 39 countries in this week's roll out include the US, China and Japan, as well all as major European economies including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Russia and Poland.

On Apple's Q4 earnings call, CEO Tim Cook (pictured, holding an iPad Pro) admitted the vendor's penetration of the enterprise space remains low but claimed Apple had "quietly" built a $25bn business in this area over the last few years.

For its full year ending 26 September, Apple saw net profit hike 35 per cent to $53.4bn on sales which rose 28 per cent to $234bn. This means that enterprise now contributes over a tenth of the total.