Rumor: 7" iPad Mini & iPhone 5 Coming Soon?
There is a big wave of iDevice rumors making the headlines today. According to a "highly reliable iLounge source", Apple will be making some big changes to its product line.
Besides some new touch-powered iPods (which would explain this) and a new iPod touch for this fall (obvious), Apple supposedly has plans to release a smaller 7" iPad by the end of the year. It's not the first time we've heard about this, and 9to5mac boldly confirms it. The rumor also claims there will be a front-facing camera and some version of Retina display (1500x1920).
We haven't heard anything directly about it, and I'm having a hard time believing it. I just can't imagine Apple giving developers yet another resolution to work with. Consider that today's universal apps already have to support three different resolutions: normal, Retina display and iPad. The thought that Apple will require developers to build yet another version of their apps sounds like too much of a stretch. But, I'm hearing Macstories is finding what they believe to be iPad Retina display files in the SDK, so in the end, nobody really knows what Apple's plans are.
iLounge also reports Apple is pushing its next iPhone release to January because of Antennagate. But, in Apple's opinion, there are no antenna issues, so that rumor just would not make sense. Lastly, Apple is apparently working on a new generation of cheap Bumpers that they could produce more quickly to bring the free case program costs down, so get yours fast. This actually would make sense, I'm even hearing they now ship Bumpers without packaging.
What I'm still most curious about is that 7" iPad. What do you think?