iPad Mini Seems Locked In For November 2nd Launch

By

The iPad mini's little price tag could have an impact on 9.7-inch iPad sales.
The iPad mini's little price tag could have an impact on 9.7-inch iPad sales.

The iPad mini will be announced next October 23rd, but when’s it actually going on sale? Common sense and looking at what Apple has done in the past would dictate November 2nd, which is what previous internet rumor suggested. Now we’re hearing confirmation of that date from loftier sources.

Darrel Etherington at Techcrunch reports:

Apple’s iPad mini is almost certainly set to be announced next week at an event in San Jose Tuesday, and we’re now hearing that it will ship a week and a half after that unveiling. November 2 is the ship date we’ve heard today from a source close to Apple’s supply chain, echoing an earlier report by Geeky Gadgets that that’s the day the iPad mini will go on sale.

So November 2nd is looking very likely. When will preorders start, though? My guess is Apple will start preorders shortly after the iPad mini unveil (like with the third-gen iPad), and not hold off until Friday morning at midnight (as they did with the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5). Why? Because the iPad mini isn’t going to have nearly the same demand, at least as first, as the new iPhone, so Apple won’t have to launch preorders late at night to prevent their server from exploding.

Source: Techcrunch

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.