iPhone 5 and iPad mini to be revealed on 12 September?
Reports peg the iPhone 5 and iPad mini as being officially revealed in September.
The iPhone 5 will be revealed on 12 September, alongside a smaller iPad and a new iPod nano, new reports claim.
iMore cites 'sources who have proven accurate in the past', and reckons Apple will debut two new toys at a September event, with the iPhone 5 release date pegged to come nine days later, on 21 September.
Those dates would roughly line up with last year's iPhone lid-lifting, which took place on 4 October, with the iPhone 4S hitting shelves 10 days later on 14 October.
If Apple stays true to form, the official date of the unveiling will remain secret until roughly one week prior, generating a calculated air of mystery and stymying tech journalists' attempts at making evening plans in September and October. Invites for the 4 October iPhone 4S launch went out on 27 September, one week prior to the big reveal.
Purported snaps of the iPhone 5 -- or 'new iPhone' as it's likely to be officially dubbed -- hint at a taller device with a bigger, widescreen display and revamped connector dock, but the same metal-banded-style as the iPhone 4 and 4S.
The iPad mini meanwhile has been rumoured for years, but with Google releasing its dirt-cheap (and thoroughly brilliant) Nexus 7, the time could be ripe for a miniature Apple-branded tablet.
A seven or eight-inch display is guessed to be glued to the front, while the screen resolution is reckoned to be 1,024x768 pixels, just like that of the iPad 2. That's not as eye-bleeding as the retina display on the new iPad, but a lower resolution could keep costs down.
Nothing is official so far, but Apple is definitely releasing iOS 6 -- the newest version of its mobile operating system -- this autumn, and it'll likely want some new hardware upon which to showcase its new apps and features.
I'll be watching like a hawk and listening like a hawk with an ear trumpet for any fresh details, so stay tuned. In the meantime, let me know what you think Apple should focus on in the comments below or on our Facebook wall.
Image credit: Martin Hajek