Apple has sent out invitations for a press event that will be held on October 22 in San Francisco, and the invites suggest that the company has "a lot to cover."
Apple sent out the invites on Tuesday, October 15, a week ahead of its much-awaited press event where the company is expected to announce OS X Mavericks, new MacBook Pros, the second-gen iPad mini, as well as the next-gen iPad 5.
Apple's minimalist copy was reminiscent of last year's "We've got a little more to show you" line, when commentators focused on the word "little" to confirm their expectations that Apple would roll out the rumored iPad Mini.
"We still have a lot to cover," reads Apple's invite for the upcoming event.
Apple's latest invite copy is reminiscent of last year's "We've got a little more to show you," which hinted at a "little" iPad version - the iPad mini making its debut. This time round too, if we read between the lines, Apple could focus on unveiling a redesigned, slimmer Smart Cover for the tablets as hinted by the word "cover."
Apple has patented an "integrated inductive charging in protective cover," whereby iPad Smart Covers will be able to charge the tablet wirelessly. Previously, analysts have suggested that Apple may release a new Smart Cover alongside the iPad mini 2 and iPad 5 to accommodate the change in size.
"Given this change in size, we believe this will provide Apple with an excuse to unveil a new Smart Cover and drive an upgrade cycle for this line of cases (also an upgrade cycle for non-Apple branded iPad cases), which we believe is an attractive margin product for Apple," says Brian J. White of Cantor Fitzergald in a research note. "Essentially, if you own a case for prior versions of the iPad, you will need to buy a new case for the iPad 5.
The iPad mini 2 is speculated to feature a Retina display but not have any major design changes. On the other hand, rumors and leaks hint that the iPad 5 will take on the design sensibilities of the smaller sibling iPad mini and have narrower bezels, a rounded shell, as well as a more compact design when compared to predecessor iPad 4. iPad 5 is also expected to have a faster A7 processor and come with a stylus. Both the tablets are also expected to have a fingerprint sensor like the recently launched iPhone 5S.
Apple is also expected to introduce its new OS X Mavericks (incidentally, the first operating system not to be named after a feline), as well as refresh its Mac computer line-up, which will likely come pre-loaded with the new OS. Apple is rumored to launch new 13- and 15-inch notebooks, which will be upgraded to Intel's latest Haswell processors and may also come pre-loaded with faster PCI Express-based flash storage.
Interestingly, Nokia too has an event scheduled for October 22 where it is expected to introduce the Nokia Lumia 2520 or the Sirius tablet.
