Apple shares off after launching new iPads

Technology giant Apple garnered applause from the audience at the launch of its new iPad models on Thursday, but markets seemed a bit non-plussed.

The Cupertino, California-based manufacturer unveiled its new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 tablets.

The iPad Air 2’s, which Chief Tim Cook bragged are thinner than a pencil, will hit the stores with a price tag of $499, the same as the new Mac Mini. It will also incorporate a new microprocessor, the A8X, which is 12 times faster than its predecessor.

Also presented today were the company's new operating system, OS X Yosemite, and iMac. The 27 inch model of the latter will debut at $2,499.

One of the main selling points for the new iMac is the Retina 5K display.

The launch of its latest upgrade for its cell phone operating system, the iOS8.1 was also announced.

Cook said, “this is the strongest line-up of products that Apple has ever had.”

Markets, however, seemed far more interested in its new Apple Pay service, for mobile payments, which is set to launch on Monday 20 October. 500 banks are said to have already expressed an interest.

As of 19:44 shares of Apple were lower by 1.23% to 96.34.