iPad Pro

Apple's answer for slowing iPad sales: Supersize it!

That's what CEO Tim Cook announced Wednesday, unveiling a new, larger version of the tablet. Called the iPad Pro, the device features a 12.9-inch screen that's designed to be used with two hands, and the ability to run two apps side by side. The goal is to prove the iPad can be more than just a device for surfing the Web and watching videos.

Among the new technologies Apple introduced are a new thin "smart keyboard" that also acts as a cover, which the company said is wrapped in a special fabric. But Apple will also offer a new device called the Apple Pencil, a stylus designed as a more precise way of interacting with the device.

"In just five years, iPad has transformed the way we create, the way we learn and the way we work," Cook said during an event in San Francisco. The iPad Pro, he said, "is the most capable iPad we've ever created."

The iPad Pro will start at $799 with 32 gigabytes of storage, launching in November. The keyboard will cost $169 and the pencil will cost $99.

It's all part of Apple's latest effort to expand interest in the slumping tablet industry. For Apple, iPad sales, which account for about 10 percent of the company's sales, have been the one weak spot in its product line. Apple sold 10.9 million iPads in the three months ended in June. Though seemingly high, and representing nearly a quarter of all tablets sold around the world, sales had still declined 18 percent from the same time last year. That was the sixth consecutive decline for the iPad line.

Analysts say it's not just the iPad. Consumers have been holding on to their tablets longer, opting to buy bigger-screen iPhones and Mac computers instead. It's also been years since Apple has spurred demand by offering any big jumps in technology or a radically new take on its tablet. Updates to the iPad -- including a mini version first introduced in 2012 -- have seen a bump up in technical specs like processor speed, screen resolution and added memory but not much else in the way of game-changing innovation.