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Cupertino, Calif. • Apple made its new Mac operating system, Yosemite, available as a free download starting Thursday. Apple Pay, the company's new system for using iPhones to make credit and debit card payments at retail stores, will launch on Monday.
CEO Tim Cook opened Thursday's company event by touting strong reception to the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, released last month, and said there's more to come. Apple also is expected to unveil new iPads this afternoon, as the company tries to drive excitement amid slowing demand for tablet computers, and may announce new Mac computers.
"It's been an incredible year and tremendously busy already," he said, adding that the new iPhones have been the fastest-selling in Apple's history. He reiterated that the iPhones will launch in China in just a few hours and said the launch is aligned with a rollout of 4G cellular networks there.
The event is being held at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California.
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NEW IPADS:
It's been a year since Apple came out with a lighter, thinner full-size model called the iPad Air. Apple is expected to refresh that with a faster processor and possibly a fingerprint ID sensor akin to what's found on recent iPhones. The sensor would let people use a fingerprint instead of a passcode to unlock the device.
Apple also might offer an iPad with a gold-colored casing, another option already available on iPhones. An updated iPad Mini might be part of the new lineup.
Thursday's event comes as sales of Apple's iPads have dropped. Through the first half of this year, Apple had shipped 29.6 million iPads, a 13 percent drop from the same time last year. Apple plans to issue results for the latest quarter on Monday.
Apple has been facing competition from cheaper tablets running Google's Android operating system. Ahead of Apple's event, Google announced Wednesday that an 8.9-inch Nexus 9 tablet is coming next month at a starting price of $399, $100 less than the 9.7-inch iPad Air. It will run a new version of Android, dubbed Lollipop.
Besides competition, there's been an overall slowdown in tablet demand. This week, research firm Gartner projected worldwide shipments of 229 million tablets this year. Although that's up 11 percent compared with 2013, it's far less than the 55 percent growth seen last year and the more than doubling in sales in 2012.
More than half of U.S. households own at least one tablet, and the rest include people who may not want one or can't afford it, Gartner analyst Mika Kitagawa said.
While wireless carriers often subsidize smartphones to bring the price down to about $200, customers typically pay full price for tablets — starting at $499 for the iPad Air.
She said people are more likely to view a smartphone as essential, while they may use a smartphone or a traditional computer for many of the functions that a tablet can perform. In addition, some tablet owners are now buying hybrid devices that combine a tablet with a lightweight, detachable keyboard. Many of those run on Microsoft's Windows system. Gartner counts those as personal computers, not tablets.
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MAC UPDATES
Apple has said the new Yosemite operating system for Macs was coming this fall, but it didn't announce a specific timing until Thursday.
The Mac update includes aesthetic changes as well as new functionality, such as the ability to make phone calls with an iPhone nearby and a one-stop search tool for both locally stored documents and online resources.
Apple has been releasing Mac updates more frequently, in part to time them with annual changes to the iOS system for iPhones and iPads. Many of the new Mac features will complement what's found in iOS 8, including the ability to start tasks such as email on one device and finish on another.
During a demo, Apple executive Craig Federighi made a phone call to Stephen Colbert from his Mac and connected with the comedian. The call was actually being made through a nearby iPhone.
He also used Apple's upcoming Apple Watch as a remote control to control a Mac presentation being projected onto a big-screen set via Apple TV.
Starting last year, Apple has made its Mac updates available as a free download.
Apple may also use the event to announce new Mac computers. The company released new laptops last October, and there's speculation new iMac desktops are in store.
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APPLE PAY
Apple has already announced its new payments system, Apple Pay, but the iPhone feature wasn't made available right away.
In announcing a Monday launch date, Cook also said deals have been made with hundreds of additional credit card issuers since the service was announced last month. Cook also said additional merchants plan to accept Apple Pay by the end of the year.
With Apple Pay, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners will be able to make payments at brick-and-mortar stores by holding their phone near a card reader. The new iPhones have a wireless chip to transmit the information needed to complete the transaction. Owners of older models won't be able to use Apple Pay, even with the software update.
Consumers aren't likely to abandon plastic credit cards until a majority of retailers, especially smaller merchants, accept contactless payments such as Apple Pay. But Apple Pay may spur transactions over mobile Web browsers and apps this holiday season, since it lets consumers avoid typing in credit card information each time.
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APPLE WATCH
Apple says it will release tools next month so that developers can begin making apps for the upcoming Apple Watch wearable device.
Rival smartwatches running Android have suffered from not having many useful apps from the start. Apple is hoping to have a strong app store in place when Apple Watch debuts next year.