Apple iPad mini launch event

Apple's much-awaited iPad mini tablet is likely to be announced today at an invite-only event at the California Theater in San Jose. This is a new location for a major Apple event. We'll be bringing you the news as it happens from what could be the biggest launch event in Apple’s history.

As well as the iPad mini, which will take on the £159 Google Nexus 7, we could witness the launch of:

- A new 13in Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display (which our Editorial Director, Riyad Emeran, will SURELY buy).

- A refreshed Apple iMac range

- A new Mac mini device

ITProPortal.com will bring you the latest updates live from Apple's event, which will be held later today from 18:00 UK time (10am local time).

This page will be updated on a regular basis from now until the end of the event and we'll then be shift it over to our dedicated Apple hub with the latest reports and analysis about the products' specifications, features, pricing, previews, comparisons and availability.

Your comments are welcome in our Disqus section; tell us what you expect from the event, what features you expect from the iPad mini, whether you intend to stick with your Apple product or upgrade when their successors go on sale.

19:58 - 23 October

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19:23 - 23 October

The event has now ended. Thank you very much for following.

19:13 - 23 October

Tim Cooks says thanks to everyone.

19:13 - 23 October

Breaking: Apple announces new 13in MacBook Pro with Retina display and Intel Ivy Bridge architecture

19:12 - 23 October

Breaking: Apple unveils new super-thin iMac at launch event

Breaking: Apple announces updated Mac minis with Ivy Bridge processors

19:11 - 23 October

Almost the end.

19:10 - 23 October

Tim Cook back on stage. Wrapping up now.

19:10 - 23 October

Take a loan to buy the new iPad or the iPad 4.

19:09 - 23 October

Two weeks later for mobile LTE version.

19:08 - 23 October

October 26 is ordering day. Same day as Windows 8.

19:08 - 23 October

iPad mini with LTE for $459.

19:07 - 23 October

16GB memory for $329. iPad 2 for $399 and 4th gen $499. So no more 3rd gen iPad.

19:05 - 23 October

Largest single cell battery ever at Apple.

19:05 - 23 October

0.2mm glass on front and back. More fragile? HD video camera at the back.

19:04 - 23 October

New set of smart covers, redesigned hinge on smart cover.

19:04 - 23 October

Unibody chassis. Concentration rather than reduction of original.

19:03 - 23 October

iPad mini fits well on a 9.7in tablet.

19:03 - 23 October

...unless it is priced too high or close for comfort. Anyway, new iPad means the end of the iPad 2.

19:02 - 23 October

Hunch is that the iPad Mini will kill its bigger brother...

19:02 - 23 October

iPad mini video is playing.

19:01 - 23 October

More than just an iPod touch 5G.

19:01 - 23 October

Wi-Fi, 10-hour battery life, Lightning connector! iPad 4 but smaller.

19:00 - 23 October

5-megapixel rear camera. LTE.

19:00 - 23 October

A5 SoC, facetime HD camera.

19:00 - 23 October

18:59 - 23 October

When Apple mentions a rival, then it is a serious one...

18:58 - 23 October

hmm. iPad mini has a lower pixel density.

18:57 - 23 October

35 per cent extra display area.

18:57 - 23 October

Compares it to the Nexus 7. The Android tablet is thicker, plastic and has a smaller display.

18:56 - 23 October

I am impressed...

18:56 - 23 October

18:55 - 23 October

All software created for iPad will work on iPad mini.

18:55 - 23 October

9.7in and 7.9in. Super slim bezel.

18:54 - 23 October

iPad mini - 23 per cent thinner than the iPad 4. 0.68 pounds, less than half the weight of the iPad 4. 7.9in diagonal. 1,024 x 768 pixels

18:53 - 23 October

7.2mm thin.

18:53 - 23 October

Can be hold in one hand. Aluminium back.

18:52 - 23 October

And here is the iPad mini...

18:52 - 23 October

18:51 - 23 October

Such a quick cycle reminds me of that comic from The Oat Meal. What it's like to own an Apple product.

18:50 - 23 October

Retina display, Lightning USB, SD cable, VGA, HDMI.

18:50 - 23 October

2x faster WiFi, Lightning connector.

18:49 - 23 October

LTE

18:49 - 23 October

4th generation iPad 6 months later. A6X. 2x faster than the A5x. new ISP. 10 hours battery life.

18:47 - 23 October

iPad is fastest selling tablet ever. Really cool stuff coming.

18:47 - 23 October

Similar success in smaller business. Phil Schiller is back on stage. "we're not taking our foot off the gas, we're just getting started".

18:46 - 23 October

iPad in business. 94 per cent of Fortune 500 use iPad in some way or another. BYOD here I come.

18:45 - 23 October

A few updates for educational publishers.

18:45 - 23 October

Check out our article on Teaching with tablets: Will our children be using electronic textbooks to learn?

18:44 - 23 October

18:43 - 23 October

Quote from superintendent (someone working in the education sector in the US).

18:42 - 23 October

More advertorials for the iPad.

18:42 - 23 October

Wax lyrical.

18:42 - 23 October

He highlights what makes the iPad so great like the camera, the features, apps, battery life. People LOVE their iPad.

18:41 - 23 October

91 per cent of web traffic for tablet is iPad.

18:40 - 23 October

Now iPad. Two weeks ago, 100m iPads sold. 30 months to reach 100m figure. More iPads sold in June than any PCs

18:39 - 23 October

Boldest new iMac ever created. Announcement for Macs ended.

18:39 - 23 October

Ships in November and December respectively

18:38 - 23 October

Starts at $1,299 and $1,799 for the 21.5in and 27in displays

18:38 - 23 October

Here's a comparison pitting Fusion drive vs Flash and HDD

18:37 - 23 October

This technology is made possible with Intel tech (a collaboration similar to the early days of Intel's Light Peak and Apple's Thunderbolt?)

18:37 - 23 October

18:36 - 23 October

Basically what Intel did with Robson and cache. Similar to what we're seeing on low-end Ultrabooks.

18:36 - 23 October

Actually you can do fusion drive option with flash AND HDD. One logical drive. Mac Mini can do that as well.

18:35 - 23 October

Uses Nvidia, up to 3TB HDD, quad-core i5 or i7, 32GB RAM, up to 768GB flash. Can't have both flash and HDD.

18:34 - 23 October

18:33 - 23 October

Anti-reflective coating, 4 million pixels on the 27in. Plasma deposition process.

18:33 - 23 October

21.5in and 27in models. Completely reengineered the internal components.

18:32 - 23 October

Laminated glass, 45 per cent thinner.

18:31 - 23 October

Friction stir welding. Molecules of the aluminium are welded together. Super strong and seamless.

18:31 - 23 October

The bottom edge is the chin, as Apple likes to refer to it...

18:30 - 23 October

5mm edge. Tapers to a fuller bulge at the back.

18:30 - 23 October

Can be sexier than that to be honest. This is WTF material at its best.

18:29 - 23 October

No optical drive. Super thin looking iMac

18:29 - 23 October

8 generations now.

18:28 - 23 October

iMac Update coming. Number one desktop available in the US. Better graphics, twice the memory and same storage capacity. Same price.

18:28 - 23 October

Mac Mini Server with i7 and two 1TB HDD available for $999.

18:27 - 23 October

11W idle. 2.5GHz dual-core i5 Ivy Bridge with 4GB and 500GB model for $599.

18:27 - 23 October

18:26 - 23 October

four USB 3 port, GbEthernet, Thunderbolt & SD card.

18:26 - 23 October

Mac Mini coming next.

18:25 - 23 October

Advert showing. This little puppy will probably sell by the truckload. MBA is $999, old MBP is $1,199 and new one $1,699. Old version is still on sale.

18:24 - 23 October

At $1,699, that roughly a third more than the base MacBook Pro without RD.

18:24 - 23 October

2.5GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage will cost $1699. Powernap is sleep and charge, superhibernate. Ships today.

18:22 - 23 October

720p video recording as well. A maximum storage capacity of 768GB flash storage, Core i5 and i7 CPU. Assymetric Li Ion battery technology. 8GB of RAM. Intel HD graphics 4000. Of course Ivy Bridge. Ships with Mountain Lion.

18:21 - 23 October

Facetime HD and Dual Mics. Evernote is RD ready as well.

18:21 - 23 October

You will need optimised apps. Aperture, iLife, iWork and Mac Apps Store will have a RD section.

18:20 - 23 October

300 nits display. 29 per cent higher contrast ratio, 75 per cent reduced reflection.

18:19 - 23 October

4x the number of pixels compared to the previous MBP. IPS display, twice the number of pixels on a full HD television.

18:19 - 23 October

18:18 - 23 October

3.57 pounds, 1 pound lighter, lightest MBP ever. No optical drive, but there's thunderbolt, USB 3.0 dual mic, Magsafe 2. 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, card reader.

18:17 - 23 October

20 per cent thinner at 0.75in. Ultrabook territory.

18:17 - 23 October

13in MBP announced. Our editorial director will be a happy man.

18:16 - 23 October

13in MBP is number one selling Mac. Number of quotes being mentioned.

18:16 - 23 October

Macbook... Recapping about the Retina Display 15in MBP.

18:15 - 23 October

Phil Schiller is now on stage to show more about the Mac (new Mac).

18:15 - 23 October

15 per cent year-on-year growth.

18:14 - 23 October

Now talking about the Mac. Six years year-on-year growth.

18:13 - 23 October

Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Asian Language support available now.

18:13 - 23 October

New version of iBooks coming with continuous scrolling, more like viewing a "webpage".

18:12 - 23 October

Over 1.5 million books available in the iBookstore plus 400 million books downloaded so far.

18:11 - 23 October

Paid a whopping $6.5 billion for developers so far.

18:10 - 23 October

Not stretched out but designed for the iPad exclusively. 35 billion apps downloaded.

18:10 - 23 October

275,000 iPad apps and growing.

18:09 - 23 October

160 million Game Center accounts and 70 million photos shared.

18:09 - 23 October

300 billion messages sent via iMessage. 28,000 per seconds.

18:08 - 23 October

Fastest upgrade rate in history (of computing we guess). 125 million documents in the cloud and Mountain Lion/iOS 6.

18:07 - 23 October

200 million devices running iOS 6.

18:07 - 23 October

Talking about iOS 6.

18:06 - 23 October

3 million of the new iPod touch sold.

18:06 - 23 October

And the Apple Live video feed is also delayed by a minute or so. Could be to stagger traffic.

18:05 - 23 October

Just noted that the iPhone feed of the event is wayyyy behind the Apple Live video feed.

18:02 - 23 October

Updates on a few things... iPhone 5 up to a tremendous start. Sold 5 million units in the first weekend. Fastest selling phone in history.

18:02 - 23 October

Tim Cook takes to the stage. Saying good morning to everyone...

18:00 - 23 October

6pm... The show's about to start....

17:59 - 23 October

"Imagine Dragons" playing in the background.

17:58 - 23 October

Ladies and gentlemen, the event will start shortly. Please switch off your phone. So says the chap over the mic.

17:54 - 23 October

First shot - the venue...

17:52 - 23 October

The feed for Apple TV is live, showing shots of the California Theater with a track from Grizzly Bear playing.

17:45 - 23 October

15 more minutes to go and counting. The pizzas have already been ordered. The beers should follow shortly.

17:25 - 23 October

Just over 30 minutes now before the event starts.

16:04 - 23 October

Will the iPad mini steal the limelight from Windows 8 tablets? There's a distinct possibility that this will happen with non-Nexus tablets of any shape and size being the collateral victims of this battle of titans.

15:58 - 23 October

Has Apple lost its way with the iPad mini? That's the rather controversial question that one of us has asked.

14:35 - 23 October

The Apple Store is down. Here we go again.

13:42 - 23 October

Could the sales of the iPad mini cannibalise those of the current iPad or will both tablets be complementary?

12:41 - 23 October

Check out this iPad mini buyer's guide which looks at the steps involved in buying a 7in tablet, the expected size of Apple's rumoured miniature tablet.

11:11 - 23 October

What can we expect from the iPad mini launch later today? Well, we've compiled a list of points that might surface (pun intended) for your perusal.

11:08 - 23 October

Two new articles related to the iPad Mini that have been just published.

What factors to consider when choosing between Apple's three tablets/media players; the yet-to-be-announced iPad mini, the iPod touch and the iPad?

Wondering whether Apple will release a minor update to its mobile platform, iOS v6.01, following the launch of the products tonight?

Apple iPad mini launch event

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