Philip W. Schiller, the Senior Vice President of worldwide marketing at Apple Inc speaks on stage during an Apple event in San Francisco, California October 22, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Tim Bajarin, a Creative Strategies analyst who's followed Apple for more than three decades, said the 64-bit chip in the new iPads makes them the most powerful tablets on the market. Keeping the iPad 2 on store shelves also makes sense, according to the analyst.

"That's the one that's a big hit in Asia and emerging markets," Bajarin said. "It's still got a lot of traction."

Apple also refreshed its computer lineup. A new, 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is thinner and lighter, Schiller said, adding that the laptop has up to 9 hours of battery life, enough to watch the entire trilogy of 'The Dark Knight' on one charge. The notebook's new price is lower: $1,299, compared with $1,499 for the previous version.

A larger MacBook Pro, with a 15-inch monitor and 256 gigabytes of storage starts at $1,999, compared with $2,199 for the previous version.

The Mac Pro, a high-end desktop computer aimed at what Apple calls "power users," will be available in December for $2,999.

The company also said that its latest computer operating system, Mavericks, is available free of charge.

"Between the iPad and iPhones, I think they'll have a monster holiday season," Bajarin said.

Apple also gave updated statistics related some of its other products. The company said that nearly two-thirds of its mobile devices are running iOS7, the revised operating system it released in September. Twenty million people have listened to iTunes Radio about a month after its release.

Shares of Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple slid $2.64 to $518.79 in afternoon trading following the event.