Now that the iPhone 5 frenzy has died down a bit, why not focus on the long-rumoured iPad mini? A new report from Fortune suggests that Apple's smaller tablet will make its debut in mid-October.

The publication, citing a "major Apple investor," said Apple will mail out press invites for the iPad mini event on 10 October, which probably means the press conference will be on 17 October. Fortune suggests that we will then see the iPad mini on store shelves by 2 November - just in time for the holiday rush.

The report comes about a month after All Things D said that Apple would hold two separate events for the iPhone 5 and iPad mini. Some had speculated that the firm would take the wraps off its new smartphone and smaller tablet at the same event, but Daring Fireball's John Gruber argued that Apple did not want both products competing for headlines and opted to space out their releases.

Just prior to the ATD report, meanwhile, Digitimes also reported that Apple would launch an iPad mini in October.

Rumours about an iPad mini have been making the rounds for months - even before the launch of the new iPad. But Apple unveiled its Retina display iPad by itself earlier this year, and will apparently opt to give the iPad mini its own event.

An August report from Digitimes claimed that the iPad's smaller sibling would land at around 7.85 in, with a thinner screen frame and bigger display, as well as resolution similar to the iPad 2.

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