The Apple iPad Mini is coming on October 23. Tim Cook and his mariachis are presenting the new ultra-thin, ultra-light, magical and sightly smaller iPad* at the California Center in San Jose, and we’ll be covering it live.
This is what you can expect — and what you shouldn’t hold your breath for:
Ipad Mini: Yes
Everyone has confirmed it. This is what we think we know about the iPad mini:It will have a 7.85-inch screen that’s not Retina, an A5 processor and 512MB of RAM. The rest — price, capacity, colours, model — is not certain yet.
Updated iMacs: Probably++
A latecomer to the rumour party, but it appears that freshened up iMacs may be a real possibility after new iMac product numbers appeared in some retailers’ stock systems. Expect a spec bump across the board while prices stay about the same. Don’t expect a redesign or a Retina display. Apple would have a separate event for that kind of thing.
Updated Mac Mini: Probably
Same as the iMacs. Although there’s a slight possibility that these would get a redesign — it’s been long enough. I’m thinking smaller models, perhaps a renewed look. You know, like the latest Airports (though not that small). It would be cool to see ultra small Mac Minis with solid-state drives, but that sounds spendy. Expect these to just pop up in Apple’s online store without any fanfare.
Apple HDTV: Unlikely
Don’t you think Apple would have a dedicated event to unveil something that major? Us too.
13-inch MacBook Pro Retina: You wish!
Some Twitter people are twittering that this is an event about smaller things and a Retina version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro would fall under that umbrella. We hope so! But Apple has a history of focusing these events on one single major product, mentioning other products’ minor updates in passing as garnish.
It’s unlikely that they would deviate from their core announcement with something as significant as a 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina.We’re betting that this announcement would come along side the news that all Macbooks are going Retina — probably next year. But you can always dream!
Updated iPad: Keep dreaming
Nothing to see here: this is all about the mini-me iPad, not its giant, mysterious cousin.
New iTunes: Extremely Likely
Apple already announced the new iTunes at the iPhone 5 event. They mentioned an October release. Well, October is about to end and there’s an event next week.
And now for the specific iPad mini stuff:
Called “iPad Air” Instead Of Ipad Mini: Probably
When Apple’s unofficial PR megaphone says it, it’s probably true: the name of the reduced iPad could be iPad Air instead of iPad Mini. It makes sense: Air is what Apple designates its thinner and lighter products, and the new teensy iPad will certainly fit that bill.
iPad Mini In Colors: Unlikely
This is not even a rumour — it’s just wishful thinking. It would make sense to differentiate their mini tablet from the Android competition, and they would look hot. But not just yet — this is just the first generation of a never-tried-before product. Next year, however, is a better bet.
$US250 Starting Price: Likely
The rumoured starting prices go from $US250 to $US350. I argued in the past that it’s probably going to be $US250. Some have said that it couldn’t possibly be that cheap because it would undercut the iPod Touch. But the iPod Touch is tiny, which means it costs more to manufacture. And they are completely different product categories: People looking for an iPod touch are not going to buy the iPad Mini because of a cheaper price. Those people want to put the iPod in their pockets, not in their backpacks. It seems that Gruber agrees.
Images by Martin Hajek.