For all his betting that the iPad Mini will do well, sell "truckloads," he saw the new tablet as a tougher-than-usual road for Apple. "This is going to be their hardest sell in a long time," Moorhead said.

The Mini was one of two tablet debuts today from Apple: It also introduced what it called the "fourth-generation" iPad, which replaces the "new" iPad, nee "iPad 3" that .

The new-new iPad boasts the A6X SoC -- the same one that powers the iPhone 5 -- that Schiller claimed doubled both processor and graphics performance. It also uses the new, smaller Lightning connector that also debuted in the iPhone 5.

Prices for the iPad remained the same, with the Wi-Fi model starting at $499 and the cellular device at $629.

Gottheil was surprised by the quick refresh of the iPad.