Latest iPad Mini Rumor Points to an October 17 Unveiling
Take this with a grain of salt, but CNN Money says a "major Apple investor" it spoke with (and who asked not to be named, of course) has heard from multiple sources that Apple will begin mailing out iPad Mini press event invitations to the press on October 10. Assuming Apple doesn't deviate from its usual time frame with such things, that would mean the press event and iPad Mini unveiling would take place a week later on Wednesday, October 17, two weeks from tomorrow.
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The launch would then occur on Friday, November 2, or exactly one month from today. That would give Apple a full weekend to tally millions of sales, followed by the holiday shopping season that kicks off in November and extends through January, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday and the various holiday celebrations in between.
Little is known about the rumored iPad Mini device, other than the fact that it's a smaller version of the 9.7-inch iPad. The iPad Mini would be going up against a growing number of smaller sized tablets, like the Kindle Fire/HD, Nook HD, and Nexus 7.