We’ve only just recovered from the fun of checking the rumours about Apple's new iPhones off against reality and here we are with an Apple announcement coming up on Oct 22. Presumably to tell us all about the company’s updates to the iPad line. This gives us an opportunity to register the rumours now so that we can mark them off against what is actually announced in a couple of week’s time.
The first thing is that we’re pretty sure there will indeed be an announcement of something from Apple:
Apple will hold an event to unveil new iPad models on October 22, according to AllThingsD.
AllThingsD always accurately reports Apple event dates a few weeks before they happen, so you can consider this date very solid.
I concur: in that so many pixels have been expended on this story that someone at Apple would have dropped a hint if it were not correct. But the question is, what is actually going to be announced?
One is that the iPad 5 will have fingerprint sensing technology:
It is highly likely that it will feature touch ID fingerprint sensors similar to the iPhone 5S. It might follow the success of the feature on the company’s latest 5S phone, which sold out worldwide.
You can view a series of supposed photos of the new iPad 5 here:
We’ve already described what consumers should expect from the iPad 5 in terms of features, but don’t just take our word for it; in the case of the iPad 5, seeing is believing. We’ve amassed a collection of 21 alleged photos of the iPad 5 leaked over the last year to give you an accurate depiction of what Apple fans should expect from the iPad 5 before its Oct. 22 unveiling and what we believe to be its Nov. 1 release date.
It’s expected that the new iPad Mini will come with a Retina display:
The standout feature for the next-generation iPad Mini is rumored to be its sharper Retina display. This seems likely, considering Apple’s smaller slate will now face stiff competition from the likes of Google and Amazon, which have both upped the ante on display quality with their respective Nexus 7 (2013) and Kindle Fire HDX tablets. Both devices sport 1080p screens.
Pricing is expected to be static, probably with the usual Apple practice of lowering the price of the previous generation:
In terms of cost, Apple is expected to keep the same price tags as previous launches. That would put a 16GB iPad 5 at $499 (£280) and could mean a 128GB iPad 5 with 4G LTE would cost a whopping $929.
The actual date of the announcement is of course fairly cheeky in itself:
Oct. 22, Apple’s chosen date for unveiling its next generation iPads, also happens to be the day on which two of the company’s big rivals plan to debut or launch new hardware of their own. Nokia’s Innovation Reinvented showcase, which is expected to host the debut of a new Windows RT tablet, will occur that Tuesday in Abu Dhabi. Microsoft will begin shipping its new Surface 2 tablet in the United States the same day.
And invariably, both companies will find themselves struggling for headline attention as Apple sucks all the air out of the day’s tech news cycle.
Nice planning, assuming it’s been designed that way. We’ve also a prediction for the next but one generation:
Ben Reitzes of Barclays Equity Research, speculated that Apple might produce a bigger 13-inch iPad in the future, and that the company’s new 64-bit A7 chip could play a significant role in this shift. Reitzes wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday that the 64-bit architecture could be implemented on a 13-inch model of the iPad, which would be capable of replacing some of Apple’s laptops, such as the MacBook Air.
And then there’s my own addition to the rumour mill. I tend to think that Apple has finally closed the deal with China Mobile to get the iPhone onto that network:
One little piece of news that indicates that Apple might have finally come to an agreement with China Mobile over allowing the iPhone onto that network. For we know that they’ve got a model of the iPhone that works on that network, we know that they’ve got Chinese state approval, it’s been about the financial aspects of the deal for some time now.
via apple - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFuhkyxxCFz-wjHAJXJA24Q6aZqzA&url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/10/12/links-12-oct-glorious-apple-ipad-rumours/
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