There’s no shortage of rumours leading up to tomorrow’s Apple launch event in San Jose. Luckily, we’ll be on the ground at the California Theatre to cover the news as it happens. Here’s a quick take on the rumours so far, and watch this space as we’ll be updating this story to let you know what’s true and what’s not (See updates below). Also, let us know which announcements surprised you.
1. There will be an iPad Mini. This is the supposed top billing for the event, where we expect to see a 7.85 inch iPad ‘Mini’ launched.
TRUE: Apple’s new iPad Mini was announced, only with a 7.9 inch display rather than the 7.85 inches. It’s about as think as a pencil and weighs about the same as a small notepad – 7.2mm thin and .68 pounds. Prices start at $US329.
2. There will also be an update to Apple’s ‘new’ iPad. Apple will release an updated iPad to replace ‘the new iPad’ with a version that has a lightning connector and international 4G LTE wireless networking support.
TRUE: This looks to be a very impressive unit with an upgraded A6X processor which should provide even more graphics and apps performance.
3. iBooks version 3.0 will be announced. This will coincide with the ebook form factor of the iPad Mini and support new features relating to books and education material.
TRUE: While there doesn’t look to be too many new features, the new iBooks includes page scrolling, not just page turning.
4. iOS 6.0.1 update. This will come installed on the new iPad devices and include some early fixes for devices such as getting rid of the keyboard display issue and a few other things.
FALSE: Nothing announced here although this is said to be in the works and available soon.
5. Updated iMacs. There will be a new assortment of iMacs which will be thinner and have upgraded processing power, hard disk storage and memory.
TRUE: The new iMacs were a standout at the event and look absolutely amazing. In fact, the new iMac is 85 percent slimmer than the version it replaces. Apple has also come up with a new hybrid disk drive solution, combining Flash memory with a traditional hard rive.
6. A smaller 13 inch MacBook Pro. Like its bigger brother, the 15 inch MacBook Pro, this will also have a retina display and a thinner case.
TRUE: As predicted, this unit is very similar to the recently introduced 15in MacBook Pro, only in a 15 inch package.
7. There will be a new Mac Mini. Apple’s pint-sized mini will also see hardware updates including the addition of faster processors, hard drives, USB3 and Thunderbolt connectors.
TRUE: With a similar look but new internals, Apple’s smallest desktop has been brought up to date.
