Apple shares hit a record $503.83 shortly after the opening bell and were up 1.53 percent at $500.97 at 10:00 am (1500 GMT).

Apple shares passed $400 on July 26 and the California gadget-maker has displaced oil giant ExxonMobil to become the largest US company in terms of market value.

The Dow Jones-owned technology blog All Things Digital, citing unnamed sources, reported last week that Apple will unveil a new version of its market-leading iPad at an event in San Francisco in March.

Apple reported blockbuster quarterly earnings last month with net profit more than doubling to a record $13.06 billion and revenue soaring to an all-time high of $46.33 billion.

Shares of Apple have risen steadily over the past few years on the release of a string of hit products starting with the iPod in 2001, followed by the iPhone in 2007 and the iPad in 2010.