Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune on a rumor that “comes from a major Apple (AAPL) investor who says he’s heard it from ‘multiple sources.'”
Widespread rumors say that “Apple is preparing to launch a smaller and cheaper version of the iPad — often called the iPad mini or iPad air and usually described as having a 7.85-inch screen,” P.E.D. reports. “What our source adds is the specificity of a date: The press, he says, can expect invitations to go out on Oct. 10.”
P.E.D. reports, “If Apple follows its usual scheduling protocol, that would suggest a special event to unveil the product on Wednesday, Oct. 17, with a launch day of Friday Nov. 2.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Lynn Weiler” and “Sarah” for the heads up.]
Woohoo!
Man that’ll send the naysayers into epileptic fits.
… or fit the epileptic nuts.
I look forward to buying an “iPad air.”
Yes and maybe it’ll finally shut you up.
Have you considered the first word in the title above the article?
I do kind of feel happy for you BLN if this becomes true. The guy just has to have that bigger screen! And to his credit he has not (so it seems) jumped ship to a DROID. I’ll be buying one too.
BLN, just strap your iPhone 5 to the back of your iPad mini and you will have the largish phone for which you have pined for the last year or two. 😉
I am looking forward to seeing how thin and light Apple will make the iPad mini. And the timing is great – just in time for the U.S. holiday season. Apple investors rejoice!
With or without Maps? Or Maps with an apology? Or, what? Will Apple let the New York Times know about this?
The reason the invitations haven’t been sent out already is that they include a map to the venue……. 🙂
Apple will unapologetically give David Pogue a list of all the things they will be apologizing for in the next business quarter. I wonder why no one has complained that the new Maps app is using a skeuomorphic analogy in its visual presentation. The damn thing looks just like a map in the real world (minus the coffee ring and frayed edges). Oh well, they’ll get that part right next time.
This could be analogous to the launch of the iPod Mini. When that was released (also around the same time as the PC version of iTunes) iPod sales skyrocketed and it become the coolest thing to own. It helped Apple dominate the music player market and also start to control the component supply for RAM and screens. The key aspect was that the price point killed the competition.
The iPad is already a huge success and has great marketshare but there are . The Mini could provide access at a lower price point and allow it to be used for commercial applications (restaurants, delivery, product displays).
Pricing could be tricky. The new iTouch is in the price range that a iPad Mini would be in.
Simple solution, drop the price on the iPod Touch.
I like the Air name better than mini. Tim, I promise it wasn’t me who told Phillip about the announcement.
ipad air sounds silly to me. i dont think there is a chance in hell they will name ot that. i know daringfireball among others os partial to it, but no way. if anyjting, ipad mini has a better ring to it. besides everyone already call it that.
I agree. Didn’t the “Air” name come from being more wireless based, rather than just being smaller?
Mac Mini: Same thing, only smaller
MacBook Air: Got rid of Ethernet & Optical drive.
A smaller iPad would be a Mini. These analysts think like salesmen… Call it an “Air” for the cool factor, who cares what it means.
As does iPad Touch. When one thinks about what those names imply, they are redundantly descriptive.
First, the iPad is already a touch device… so why refer to a smaller version as a Touch?
Second, there is an iPad Touch. Its name fits as not all iPods are touch devices. Giving an iPad an extremely similar (and similar sounding… iPod Touch vs. iPad Touch) name would be confusing.
Third, Air is already used with the MacBook line to describe a Mac laptop… not necessarily due to its light weight, but because it receives data thru the “air”, not via disk or cable input.
Mini is the most fitting… except it’s already used in the Mac line-up, and Apple tends not to name its products with similar names.
A solution would be to return the all-in-one form-factor iMac to its original name… Macintosh or Mac (it’s way, way past time to drop the “i” from the Mac anyway), and rename the Mac mini the iMac… thereby freeing up “mini” to be used with a smaller iPad.
More appropriate naming all around.
Sorry… in my second point I meant to write “there is an iPod Touch”, not iPad Touch.
iPadito…. Is Spanish
It’s official, new iMac to be released on the 1st of never.
I believe you are early. It’s normally the 12th of never. That’s a long, long.
blahblahblah
Wake me up when this vacuous rumor transcends into something containing a shred of fact.
zzzzzzz