By Daisuke Wakabayashi 

With its tablet sales slumping, Apple Inc. unveiled new iPads with incremental improvements that aim to prod companies to replace older tablets and personal computers.

Apple's iPad Air 2 is 18% thinner than its predecessor, includes a more powerful processor and graphics engine, and is equipped with Apple's Touch ID fingerprint reader. Touch ID allows users to buy items within apps using the Apple Pay payment service, and acts as a security feature.

Forrester Research analyst J.P. Gownder said the changes may prove underwhelming for many consumers, but could appeal to businesses. For example, the screens come with an anti-reflective coating that promises to make the tablets more useful for field workers. The new iPads also offer the ability to switch between different carriers' data plans for cellular connectivity.

"It's a set of logical, incremental improvements," said Mr. Gownder. "Taken together, they could be the thing that pushes companies to upgrade their old iPads."

Mr. Gownder said 11.5% of iPads were sold to businesses in 2013. He estimates that figure will reach nearly 20% in 2018.

Apple in July said it would work with International Business Machines Corp. to develop apps for the iPhone and iPad catered to the workplace. On Thursday, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said he expects that those apps would help expand the reach of iPads in the corporate world.

By positioning the iPad as a PC replacement for a new generation of workers, Apple aims to answer the existential question facing tablet computers as technology evolves. Smartphones are growing bigger with larger screens and more powerful processors, increasingly capable of handling tasks once earmarked for tablets. Laptops are becoming lighter and more portable, meeting some of the demand for a lightweight, mobile computing device.

The trends are visible in Apple's own products, where the newly released iPhone 6 Plus comes with a 5.5-inch display, nearly encroaching on the iPad Mini's 7.9-inch screen.

The iPad was a runaway success as one of the first tablet computers in 2010, but demand for the product has started to slow. IPad revenue has fallen in four of the last five quarters, compared with the same period a year earlier.

Apple isn't alone in confronting a sluggish tablet market. Market researcher Gartner estimates that world-wide tablet unit shipments should expand 11% this year, a deceleration from the 55% unit growth in 2013. By comparison, Gartner says smartphone shipments will increase 35% this year.

Part of the problem is that iPad owners aren't replacing tablets as often as they swap phones. According to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech survey data, nearly 50% of iPads in use are the original iPad and the iPad 2--which were introduced in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

During an event short on surprises at Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters on Thursday, Mr. Cook emphasized the positives, saying Apple had sold 225 million iPads since it was introduced, making it the fastest-selling Apple product ever.

In an interview, Mr. Cook said he remains "bullish over the long haul" about the iPad, although he said quarterly sales may continue to fluctuate. He also said the new iPad Air 2 will drive "an upgrade cycle" among existing iPad owners.

In addition to the iPad Air 2, Apple also unveiled a new iPad Mini 3, which also will come with Touch ID, and a new iMac personal computer.

Apple plans to take orders for the new iPads on Friday and begin shipments next week. The iPad Air 2 starts at $499, while the iPad Mini 3 starts at $399.

Apple cut the starting price of its previous iPad Minis to $249 for the original version and $299 for last year's model. Kantar's research chief Carolina Milanesi said the reduced price would help Apple compete with lower-priced rivals running Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

Apple is preparing a larger 12.9-inch iPad with a high-resolution display, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple had planned to start production of the new iPad this year, but it has pushed back the timetable to give its screen suppliers more time to meet massive demand for its new iPhones.

The new iMac, which features a display that Apple says provides seven times the resolution of a high-definition television, is available now. The company said Apple Pay rolls out on Monday along with a new version of its iOS mobile operating system.

Apple has said iPhone owners will be able to use Apple Pay at 220,000 U.S. locations, including McDonald's, Bloomingdale's and Macy's. By comparison, there are more than nine million U.S. merchants accepting credit and debit cards. Apple said it expects Apple Pay to be supported by more than 500 banks by early 2015.

Apple also showed off its new OS X operating system for Macs, which became available free to existing customers on Thursday; the company said its new mobile operating system, iOS 8.1, will be available Monday.

Write to Daisuke Wakabayashi at Daisuke.Wakabayashi@wsj.com

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