Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Apple Inc, speaks about the new iPad Pro's pricing during an Apple media event in San Francisco, California, September 9, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Facebook messenger coming to the watch

Cook began the morning by talking up the Apple Watch, saying customer satisfaction for the recently launched product was 97 percent and that a new version of its operating system would be ready by mid-September. Apple is working with French luxury goods maker Hermes on a new watch collection, and Facebook Messenger is coming to the device, he added.

He then rolled out the "iPad Pro" with a 12.9 inch screen and said it had performance similar to a desktop computer. Apple showed off a "smart" keyboard as well as the "Pencil".

Dave Meier, who works on several portfolios at Motley Fool Funds, said that the addition of a stylus and keyboard to the iPad Pro, which starts at $799, could lead to a "refresh cycle" that would lift incremental sales.

He was "impressed with the gumption" to bring Microsoft executives to demonstrate Office products on the new iPad, he said. "This says that the Surface might be dead and Microsoft understands that they are very good at productivity but not at hardware," he said.

The new phones come a year after Apple rolled out iPhones with larger screens, touching off a frenzy of sales that saw revenue in the most recent quarter increase 32.5 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

"It's getting harder and harder for Apple to compete against itself," said analyst Bob O'Donnell of TECHnalysis Research. Apple shares are up about 12 percent over the last year, although they are down about 14 percent in the last three months.

Fortunately for Apple, most consumers buy smartphones under a two-year upgrade cycle, meaning the company will still likely scoop up a lot of sales, said analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy.

"The key point of reference is not how the new phone compares to the iPhone 6, it's how it compares to the iPhone 5s," he said.