iPad Mini To Be Wi-Fi Only At Launch, Sees Last Minute Design Changes, Current iPad To Get Minor Refresh This Month

The iPad Mini has been frequently discussed over the last few months with small snippets of speculation being stitched together to give us an indication of what Apple will be announcing in the days to come. Before the launch of the iPhone 5; it was rumored that Apple would be announcing up to eight new products before the end of October, but if the rumored October announcement event is to happen like many outlets are suggesting then it looks like Apple might need to get a few things in order on their production lines.

It is being suggested that the company’s new 7.85-inch creation will hit the market with a maximum price tag of $250 and will look to directly compete with the Nexus 7 tablet from Google and ASUS, as well as Amazon’s new range of Kindle Fire devices. There has been some confusion as to why Apple would produce such a product when they have such a huge success with the current iPad, but it makes perfect sense to appeal to the mid-range market and they are hopeful of shipping out more than ten million units of the devices during this holiday season.

The standard 9.7-inch iPad that we have all come to know and love ships with either a Wi-Fi only or a Wi-Fi + cellular option, which is something that may not be the case with the new iPad Mini. According to a report from TheGuardian the new smaller iPad will come as a Wi-Fi only option, meaning users won’t have the option of slotting in a SIM card to connect to a cellular network for data on the move. In addition to providing this new product we are also expecting Apple to ship an updated version of the current third-generation iPad that brings 4G support for the United Kingdom’s first 4G LTE network that will be operational at the end of this month.

iPad home button

If Apple does intend to hold an event during October to announce the new miniature iPad as well as the refreshed third-generation iPad then we could see the official invitations going to media outlets as early as tomorrow morning. However, it remains to be seen whether or not this will happen, as Macotakara is suggesting that one of the company’s official equipment manufacturers had to halt production of the new product due to a last minute change in design. We aren’t sure if there is any substance in this, and in all honesty it seems a little late in the day to be making such important design amendments. If the invites start to land in inboxes tomorrow then we know that the design is nailed down.

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