iPad Mini Event Invitations, Video, And Photos: This Week In Apple Rumors
iPad Mini Event Invitations, Video, And Photos: This Week In Apple Rumors
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to This Week In Apple Rumors, our regular look back at all of the week's unconfirmed gossip, questionably-sourced reports, and blatant speculation about future Apple products from around the Web! Let's take a look back at what the various Apple blogs and websites were excited about in the past week, from September 30 - October 6. Check out our previous edition of Apple rumors here, and for all the latest you can follow me on Twitter right here.
Are Apple's iPad Mini Event Invites Going Out On Wednesday?
Welcome back to Apple Rumors, folks, where we're always adjusted to the altitude and the Infield Fly Rule is only called in the infield. It's been an iPad Mini kind of week, with rumors of the iPad Mini dominating the cycle. First, you might have read <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443635404578033684191275730.html">in your Wall Street Journal</a> that mass product of the iPad Mini is purportedly under way, which would mean that Apple has finalized its tablet plans and is gearing up for an October launch. That would align nicely with the week's other much-discussed rumor, this one via the estimable Apple journalist <a href="http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/01/rumor-ipad-mini-invitations-set-to-be-mailed-out-oct-10/">Philip Elmer-Dewitt at Fortune</a>: He hears that press invitations for the iPad Mini unveiling will go out on October 10 (Wednesday). Here's Elmer-Dewitt, citing a "major Apple investor" who has heard the info from "multiple sources": <blockquote>If the rumor is true, and 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 -- plenty of time to capture holiday sales. </blockquote> (One point that jumps out at me: If the event is held on October 17, doesn't that suggest -- given Apple's typical product timeframe -- a release date of Friday, October 26? The iPhone 5 was unveiled Wednesday, September 12, and released in stores Friday, September 21 (9 days later); the new iPad was unveiled on Wednesday, March 7, and released in stores on Friday, March 16 (9 days later). Methinks that if Elmer-Dewitt has the event invitation correct, we should be seeing a release date of October 26 (9 days after the event, following recent tradition)).
Here Are Some More Great Renders Of That iPad Mini, By The Way
One reason why Elmer-Dewitt's invitation rumor seems so credible (to the big, oddly-sized ears of this writer) is that we've been hearing for awhile, <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20120825/confirmed-new-ipad-mini-will-debut-in-october-after-latest-iphones-september-bow/">from several sides</a>, that Apple has been planning to hold an event in October. If the invitations do not, in fact, go out this week, then surely they will go out the next; "October" and "iPad Mini" have gone together like "Infield Fly" and "the infield" for about a month now (<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/05/infield-fly-rule-braves-cardinals-wild-card_n_1944240.html">sorry, big Braves fan here</a>). And, too, the number of part leaks from supposed iPad Minis has increased over the past several weeks, too. This week a <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2012/10/02/purported-ipad-mini-parts-show-full-digitizer-frame-and-housing-assemblies/">cornucopia of iPad Mini innards</a> leaked to the web, following a steady stream of mock-ups and supposed "dummy models" of the smaller iPad being shown off in videos (we've got a great one for you coming up later in the show). To your left, meanwhile, you can see one image from a new set of renderings from the designer Martin Hajek; <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5948913/the-black-ipad-mini-could-look-absolutely-stunning">you can peruse the rest of his work Gizmodo</a>. This render gives you a solid idea of what we expect: A 7.85-inch screen, with a lower-than-Retina resolution; front-facing and rear-facing cameras; the new Lightning port. Not pictured: A price tag between $250 and $350, in order to compete with the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7, both of which are a bargain basement $199 and could be poaching away potential Apple tablet buyers. Speaking of which...
Here's An iPad Mini Compared To Its Enemies
This photograph of a (supposed) iPad Mini next to a (actually existent) Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 should give you a pretty good idea of the size Apple is going for with its smaller tablet: A handheld, portable tablet to lure away customers from opting for Google, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. You could be looking at the Shopping Battle Of Christmas 2012. 7-inch tablets are about to be hotter than Hansel, if Apple's rush to join the fray is any indication. (Steve Jobs, remember, famously maligned seven-inch tablets, <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57486828-37/steve-jobs-7-inch-tablets-doa-yeah-right/">calling them dead on arrival</a> in 2010. Now Apple is seen as hustling one in before the holiday shopping season. Either Jobs was faking his distaste, or times have changed. Possibly both!). (Photo <a href="http://www.nowhereelse.fr/date-sortie-ipad-mini-air-72213/">via nowhereelse.fr</a>, <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/10/01/ipad-mini-mockup-compared-to-nexus-7-kindle-fire-hd">via AppleInsider</a>).
Most Dramatic iPad Mini Mockup Video. Ever.
We close this week with what is the <em>Inception </em>of iPad mini mock-up videos, the most dramatic, heart-pumping, over-the-top reveal of an iPad Mini you are likely to ever see. Turn the volume up, turn the lights down, pop your popcorn, and get ready to take in a fake small iPad (<a href="http://www.macotakara.jp/blog/rumor/entry-17853.html">via Macotakara</a>) from all sides. This thing is so dramatic I'm surprised Philip Seymour Hoffman doesn't make an appearance in a key supporting role. Apple's going to have to do something mighty surprising at its upcoming event in order to surpass the drama here. We should know soon if Tim Cook and company are able to (in about two weeks, if the rumors are true). That's all for This Week In Apple Rumors. Please join us again next week, when we'll have an even more dramatic iPad Mini mock-up showing video directed by Terrence Malick, and when the pain of another Atlanta Braves postseason loss will have hopefully subsided. And if you can't wait until next week, remember that you can always get up-to-the-minute Apple rumors by <a href="http://twitter.com/gilbertjasono">following me on Twitter right here</a>.
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to This Week In Apple Rumors, our regular look back at all of the week's unconfirmed gossip, questionably-sourced reports, and blatant speculation about future...
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to This Week In Apple Rumors, our regular look back at all of the week's unconfirmed gossip, questionably-sourced reports, and blatant speculation about future...
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