“Oct. 10, the date on which Apple was rumored to be distributing invitations to a second fall product event, passed without a word from the iconic tech company’s Cupertino, Calif., HQ,” John Paczkowski reports for AllThingsD. “The silence from Apple left some to wonder if it still plans to debut a smaller iPad this fall; others speculated that production delays may have forced it to postpone the device’s unveiling until later in the year.”
“Neither is the case,” Paczkowski reports.
Paczkowski reports, “Apple will hold a special event this month, at which it will showcase a new, smaller iPad. People familiar with Apple’s plans tell us that the company will unveil the so-called ‘iPad mini’ on Oct. 23 at an invitation-only event.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
Coincidence? The 23rd is the anniversary of the release of the first iPod.
Maybe but good catch anyway. I still have mine. 1000 songs in my pocket.
“Take California” would be right at home at Electric Zoo, 11 years later.
Niiice catch!! Of course, that makes perfect sense! And it’s not just ANY anniversary… it’s the 10th Anniversary of the iPod on that date!!
Umm, it’s the 11th (2012-2001=11)
Jim Dalrymple at LoopInsight has just “yepped” the 23rd!
Pricing. With iPod Touch’s starting at $299, how could a miniPad be any less. I’m guessing $299 minimum.
I agree, it (depending on the actual device) will likely start (price wise) between the touch and the iPad2 ($299 and $399 respectively)
IMHO putting the display resolution (2048X1536) of the new iPad in a smaller form factor doesn’t make sense (it is over the top as is).
So my best guess (for what it’s worth) is a smaller version of the iPad2, (w/ 1024X768 display) with prices starting at the lower end of that range.
Also, MDN needs comment voting.
Makes sense, because earnings is typically on a Tuesday. There has to be a good reason why it was pushed to Thursday the 25th.
How about stealing some of Microsoft’s thunder–aren’t they announcing Surface on the 26th?
I am guessing $299 to start. Can’t come soon enough. Hopefully that will help the stock price which is in the toilet again today. October 23 is a long way off. Stock could be below $600 by then. We need some positive news.
Hopefully, it lives up to the hype in some way, either in build quality or in price. The iPad released in Spring will be Apple’s most important product. I’ll bet it’s considerably lighter than the current iteration.
I think it will live up to the hype in build and hopefully price too. I believe the iPad mini will be one of the most important devices they have ever built. It should fit perfectly between the iPhone/iPod touch and the full-size iPad. Rather than taking share from the iPad I believe it will complement the full-size iPad. It will cannibalize the full-size iPad some but those will also be sales that wouldn’t have been there too. In the end they will make more money and get more people into the ecosystem than they did before the iPad mini. They don’t need to have the high margins like they do on the iPhone because it’s all about getting more customers into the iOS. And that’s where you make your money. Repeat customers for the future. Once you get them hooked it’s hard for them to leave for something inferior like Android.
Huh?
First, How could an iPad mini possibly cannibalize some sales of the full size iPad, if those sales weren’t going to be made… presumably because those sales were to people who would not buy a full size iPad, anyway?
I think what you wrote is not what you meant to say.
Second, An iPad mini will have comparable margins to other Apple products. Apple isn’t going to change their business model now.
This has been discussed ad infinitum in the Mac community and elsewhere. Neither iOS, nor any other software they produce, is where Apple makes its money. Yes, software does contribute some, but only because Apple doesn’t sell anything at a loss.
Yhose billions and billions in cash overwhelmingly came from hardware (iPod, iPhone, iPad… and some Mac) sales, not thru iTunes sales.
iUnicorn mini
find it right next to the iPhone nano.
I actually think that this one is going to happen. I have no personal interest in an iPad in the rumored form factor, but I do think that there is a segment of the market that would love it.
I am most interested in a new Mac mini.
And I’m still waiting for the promised iMacs and MacPros.
Mac Pros next year. Who knows on iMacs.
I’m personally waiting for the rumored 13″ Retina MacBook Pro.
There’s gonna be a iUnicorn mini? The regular iUnicorn mini
seems just right for me. Just enough horn…
The best gotcha— should the event be real and the date be right and the mini ipad be announced —would be the line:
“And it’s available … Today!” Or even “Pre-order today. Ships on the 26th!”
That would be so killer! Everyone else announces products that are months or even years away. Even some products that never ship. Apple announces products that are READY for purchase. I’m sure if its announces it’ll be right around the corner, but I would just love to see it immediately (or very nearly) available after the event.
That would also explain the wifi-only rumors… At least at launch. This would potentially do three things: 1) it would help production by reducing production lines with fewer flavors at launch and reduce possible component constraint if the same cellular chips from iPhone 5 would be used. 2) keep the iPad as the main option if you want cellular data connectivity. 3) most importantly, it would prevent FCC approval requirements, allowing Apple to keep this thing as secret as possible (officially) while ramping up production and thereby making the announcement super close to the date it would be actually available.
Excellent points
I hope this sucker has 3G & 4G as I wanna use it as a GPS in the car. Apple would give up a lot of sales not including this option beyond just WiFi.
Let my get this straight. Oct 10 came and passed… no invitations. We have no more news, but now we are confident there will still be Oct 23 event.
Why?
Because of Dalrymple’s yep. He previously confirmed that it would be released in October but this is the first time he confirmed the date. He must have high level connections at Apple because he is never wrong. If he confirms something, it happens.