Apple ‘to unveil two new iPads in mid-Oct’

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple will unveil the next generation of iPad tablets around the middle of next month, a person with knowledge of the plans said, as the firm bolsters its product line-up ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Chief executive officer Tim Cook is working to shake up the iPad line as sales of the tablets, Apple’s second-biggest product by revenue, have declined for two straight quarters. The company has not introduced a new iPad since October last year and consumers have instead been shifting to smartphones with bigger screens.

The company has started selling its new, larger-screen iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in United States stores today.

Ms Teresa Brewer, an Apple spokeswoman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple’s suppliers recently started manufacturing an updated 9.7-inch screen iPad and were also set to enter production of a new version of the iPad mini, people familiar with the plans said last month. Suppliers are also preparing to manufacture Apple’s largest iPad, with a 12.9-inch screen, with production slated to begin by the first quarter of next year, people with knowledge of the matter have said.

Technology blog Daily Dot reported earlier today that the firm was expected to unveil two iPads next month.

Meanwhile, Apple updated its privacy policy in an attempt to reassure users that their data are safe as it moves into health and payment technologies, and deals with the recent theft of celebrity photos from Apple accounts. “We’re publishing this website to explain how we handle your personal information, what we do and don’t collect and why,” Mr Cook said in a message posted on the firm’s website.

Privacy is a key issue for Apple as it prepares to roll out services that will require people to trust it with sensitive information.

Apple last week introduced a new smartwatch with features such as health-tracking along with a mobile-payment system called Apple Pay.

The tech giant described how its new operating system for mobile devices encrypts messages in a way that cannot be accessed without the user’s passcode. Personal data on devices using iOS are placed under a passcode and cannot be bypassed, the firm said.

“Unlike other companies’ messaging services, Apple doesn’t scan your communications and we wouldn’t be able to comply with a wiretap order even if we wanted to,” the policy said. “Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data. So it’s not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS8.”

The issue over government access to mobile-phone data was taken up by the US Supreme Court earlier this year. The court ruled in June that police must usually obtain a warrant before they are able to search the phone of a person being arrested.

The announcements follow concerns raised about privacy after pictures of naked celebrities such as Ms Kate Upton and Ms Jennifer Lawrence were posted on the Internet.

While Apple has said its systems were not breached, hackers most likely broke into Apple iCloud accounts, which back up data and images from devices such as the iPhone and iPad. BLOOMBERG