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In its first product launch of 2017, Apple announced that it is rolling out a series of new iPads and a special edition red iPhone to benefit the (Red) campaign to fight AIDS.

The updated iPads will come in a 9.7-inch model. The update comes in the form of a brighter 9.7-inch Retina display and A9 chip for graphics processing. The iPad is available to order starting Friday and in stores next week. And it starts at $329

The (Red) iPhones specs are similar to those of the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus models. It'll be available in stores beginning Friday, March 24 .

They'll look like this:

The launch was foreshadowed this morning when Apple's online store went down just after midnight, sometimes a signal of a new product announcement. But the new tablets come just weeks after some sluggish iPad sales in the company's most recent quarterly earnings report. According to the company, Apple sold 13.3 million iPads. Enough to earn $5.5 billion in revenue. Still, the sales figures are a 19 percent drop in iPads sold and show a 22 percent drop in revenue from a just one year ago.

Apple joined the (Red) campaign to fight AIDS in 2006 with the launch of a red a special edition iPod nano. Since then, the company has raised over more than $120 million from the proceeds of (Red)-branded Apple products.

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