‘iPad Mini’ Media Event Reportedly Planned for October

Resonating with the startling claim made by Jim Dalrymple and John Gruber about Apple holding two separate events to launch iPhone 5 in September and Mini iPad, iPod Nano and iPod touch in October, AllThingsD confirms with its own sources saying that Apple is planning a separate event for an iPad Mini introduction in October.

The report is in contradiction to earlier claims made by various Apple pundits that both iPad Mini and iPhone 5 would be revealed on September 12, with the new iPhone actually hitting store shelves on the 21st, and with the possibility that both products would be released at the same time.

Apple’s next generation iPhone and its so-called “iPad mini” will debut at two separate events this fall, rather than a single one as has been widely speculated, according to several sources. [...]

Only after the next generation iPhone is out the door and on sale will Apple announce the smaller iPad it’s been working on. That device, which is expected to have a display of less than eight inches, will be uncrated at a second special event, which sources said is currently scheduled for October.

The new Apple tablet will have a 7.85-inch display screen and it will sell for significantly less than the $499 iPad, which has a 9.7-inch retina display. The device will be positioned to compete with rival Google’s Nexus 7, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, and the upcoming Microsoft Surface tablet coming out later this year.

AllThingsD has a solid track record with details surrounding unannounced Apple products event plans, and considering Dalrymple’s past track it seems likely that Apple will indeed be holding two separate events to launch the next-generation iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini. But until Apple sends out invitations, any rumour is just supposition.