iphone 5 and ipad miniA new report appears to reconcile the release schedule for the long-rumored iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, with the former arriving in September and the latter in October.
Over the past few weeks of mass production rumors concerning the iPhone 5, it has been difficult to reconcile the rumors that the iPad Mini would be co-released along with the iPhone 5 in September. In addition to the fact that Apple rarely presents two new, differing hardware products on the same announcement stage, we’ve heard much less about iPad Mini parts than we have iPhone 5 parts. But a new report from AllThingsD appears to offer a more plausible release schedule for both the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini.
The report states:
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.
First comes the latest iteration of the tech giant’s hugely popular smartphone, which will be unveiled at an as yet unannounced event on September 12.
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.
While we have little to go on concerning the credibility of AllThingsD’s sources, the release blueprint makes a lot more sense in that it breaks up this co-release rumor. (Can we finally put to rest the notion that Apple will ever co-release products in this way? C’mon!) The crux of this new report is that Apple will position the lesser-priced iPad Mini as an ideal Christmas item — particularly amidst a slumping world economy that could be further shocked in the fall by deteriorating market conditions in both the U.S. and Europe.
An important factor to consider with respect to the release of the iPad Mini and iPhone 5 is the eventual release of iOS 6 alpha. Australian Macworld points out that “If history is any guide, iOS 6 will be available at the same time that Apple refreshes the iPhone, likely in September or October.” Clearly, iOS 6 is the pivot point for when the iPhone 5 will be released, since Apple traditionally links the new iOS with the iPhone. This is bound to be continued this year, since iOS 6 is projected to feature improvements to Siri, the introduction of Passbook, and perhaps even iWallet — all software products that will feature and utilize iPhone hardware.
Conversely, Apple has demonstrated in the past that they are more apt to let iPad iterations use current iOS versions and have not tethered the release of new iPad models on new iOSs. With this thinking in mind, one can indeed imagine that iOS 6 will launch at the end of September, along with the iPhone 5, and the iPad Mini will follow in October.
For as much as these release date rumors are beginning to congeal, there are still some outstanding possibilities. One is that we’ve still yet to see any official Apple event scheduled for September 12th. But considering that there are a couple of weeks until that date, it’s possible that Apple is trying to withhold any official announcement until the last minute in order to further fuel speculation. Another consideration is that the September 12th announcement, should it occur, could be a new iPod event, and that the purported sightings of the iPhone 5 are actually sightings of an iPod. But the backs of the iPhone 5 units we’ve seen have all had the “iPhone” moniker on them, so if these are actually iPods, it would mean that there was a concerted, deliberate effort to pose them as iPhone 5 fakes.
And the final wrinkle in this puzzle is iOS 6. Apple has told us only that it will be released “this fall.” Fall begins on September 22nd in the northern hemisphere this year. Is that date and the reported release date of the iPhone 5 on September 21st seem conspicuous to you?
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