Apple iPad 5 Release Date Rumors: Media Event Tipped For Oct. 15

With Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c set to reach customers in a few days, a new report suggests that the company might be gearing up for another media event in mid-October, which will be dedicated to the next-generation version of the iPad, dubbed the iPad 5.

According to MacGeneration, a French blog, the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology giant will hold an iPad-related special media event on Oct. 15, a Tuesday. Although the report did not clarify whether the event would include the iPad 5 and the second-generation iPad mini, or iPad mini 2, speculation is rife that an upcoming iPad event will uncover both new models of the flagship tablet.

The current speculation takes its cue from from last year's format when Apple announced both the iPad 4 and iPad mini in late-October, after introducing the iPhone 5 and the new iPod touch lineup at a separate event in September.

According to a report from iDownloadBlog, Apple is likely to launch the full-sized iPad 5 and the smaller iPad mini 2 with retina display in October. The report also said, based on recent component leaks, that the iPad 5 will sport a thinner form factor similar to that of the iPad mini 2.

When it comes to the internals of the new iPad, the iDownloadBlog report said that Apple could use a modified A7X processor inside the iPad 5. The tablet may also get the new Touch ID sensor incorporated into the Home button, which has been introduced with the iPhone 5s this year.

Inspired by the golden color option of the iPhone 5s, some tech enthusiasts believe that the iPad 5 might also be made available in a new golden color, while the iPad mini 2 may get a polycarbonate plastic shell, just like the iPhone 5c.

This is not the first time that the release of the next-generation iPad is rumored for the fourth quarter of this year. Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at the KGI Securities, said in a research report earlier this month that Apple would release the iPad 5 and the iPad mini 2 together sometime in the fourth quarter, with both devices featuring a new A7X chip.

According to Kuo, component shipment for the new tablets would begin by the end of this quarter, with mass production of the devices picking up in the fourth quarter. The analyst also predicted that Apple may launch another iPad mini model in early 2014, which would be a minor upgrade, with an A6 chip, over the existing model.