The iPad Mini is widely expected to be announced at an Apple event on October 23rd. Colourful invitations were sent out yesterday to all of the big press outlets with the text “We’ve got a little more to show you.”
The iPad Mini is thought to be a smaller, 7.85″ version of Apple’s popular tablet computer. The tablet should be much thinner and lighter than an iPad, allowing easy one-handed operation. The iPad Mini should use the new Lightning dock connector that was introduced on the iPhone 5, as well as the latest version of the company’s mobile operating system, iOS 6.
The form factor is one that Jobs have previously discounted in 2010, when he called a 7″ tablet “too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with an iPad.” As with the eventual shift to a 4″ iPhone, it seems that Apple is moving with the times.
With the popularity of the Google Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD and Barnes & Noble Nook HD, Apple has faced increasing pressure from smaller form factor tablets, despite the company’s overall domination in the tablet computing space.
The event is also rumoured to include another new product – this time, a 13″ Retina display Macbook Pro. This continues the event’s ‘little’ theme, as it would be the smallest Macbook ever produced with a Retina display, and would be nearly as small as the Macbook Air.
Here at Mobile Fun HQ, we’ll be watching the proceedings with considerable interest. We’ve already begun stocking iPad Mini accessories, including a line of iPad Mini cases. No doubt after the announcement, we’ll be able to bring a lot more new products online.
Would you buy an iPad Mini? Let us know in the comments below or talk to us on Twitter @mobilefun.