My Prediction:
-16gb
-LTE Standard (no wifi only model)
-$399
That puts it $100 over the iPod touch, $230 less than regular iPad equivalent (with LTE). My reason for this prediction is that apple will view this as an ultra portable devide, way more portable than the iPad, thus they will bundle LTE with every model. People will eat this up, even though it's hundreds more than android 7-inchers.
I predict 8GB standard, at $249. That's cheaper than the new iPod Touch, but also has much less memory (base iPod Touch has 32GB). WiFi only, but LTE will be available.
Now, I think there's a reasonable chance
it may have the A6 chip. It will have a significant performance advantage over other 7" tablets. If they DON'T use the A6, then that means it's basically just a product designed to catch up with competitors.
But why would Apple make a Mini with twice the CPU performance of the bigger iPad3?
The iPad3 is halfway through the product cycle. So don't think of the Mini as an afterthought to the current iPad line, think of it as a "warm up" act for the next iPad4.
In the short term, Apple may cannibalize sales of the larger iPad, but on the other hand,
I think the iPad4 will be an absolute monster. Think quad-core A6, and another doubling of the GPU capabilities. And a 12-hour battery life (assuming the newer low-power retina display is used).
