John Paczkowski: Apple Will Hold Fall iPad Event on October 22, iPad Mini Going Retina and Getting A7

John Paczkowski:

The fifth-generation iPad is expected to feature a thinner, lighter design akin to the iPad mini’s, and an improved camera. It will run Apple’s new 64-bit A7 chip. The second-generation iPad mini will be upgraded with a retina display and also see the A7 incorporated into its innards. It’s not clear whether Apple’s new iPads will feature the Touch ID fingerprint sensor that recently debuted on the iPhone 5s, though that has been rumored.

The date seemed rather obvious, given that it coincides with last year’s announcement schedule. Apple is a company of patterns; if they held separate iPhone and iPad events on Tuesdays 11 September and 23 October last year, then held an iPhone event on Tuesday 10 September this year, it was pretty obvious Tuesday 22 October would be the date for the iPad event this year. And given that they haven’t refreshed the iPad lineup since last year’s event, it was even more unlikely that there would be no iPad event.

Interesting to me is Paczkowski’s reporting that the iPad Mini is going retina and getting the A7. The current Mini is running the A5, so if Paczkowski is right, the Mini is going to skip an entire generation. I know nothing about Apple’s plans for the Mini this year, but simply as an observer, I find that unusual.

★ Tuesday, 8 October 2013