That's been the latest rumor hasn't it, that iPhone 5S to release in July now I thought.
So iPad(+Mini) = Oct.
iPhone = July
I could live with that if true. Makes sense to release to iPad closer to the Christmas rush. New model=big consumer interest. iPhone earlier in the year as they can never make enough of them so don't want supply constrained into Christmas rush.
That's pretty much what I was thinking. There's a degree to which the iPad releases being in March never made sense. My parents bought my nephew an iPad a couple years ago for Christmas, but almost didn't because they knew that there was likely to be a new model in just a couple of months. I imagine that a lot of people follow the same line of reasoning, with many of them coming to the conclusion that they shouldn't buy, or worse (from Apple's perspective) that they should buy a recently released Android device.
It made no sense whatsoever to release a new iPad in the spring. iPad 4 last October was both an opportunity to align the whole 2012 iOS ecosystem with lightning connector and also to upgrade the iPad 3 processor which was seriously slow for that screen.
October seems like the obvious choice for updating the whole iPad segment (retina display on the mini and a new redesigned retina iPad) and also to release the 5S and iOS 7. I don't really think that iOS 6 will receive any further updates until then. They'll probably keep improving the maps service and concentrate on a new iOS which will surely have at least major app redesigns.
The only way that I saw it making sense was if Apple was choosing to move to a 6 month release cycle, making more minor changes/updates as they went. Under those circumstances, having an April/October refresh time would be a pretty good schedule. Now, the question about whether a six month cycle makes sense is another question and I've seen reasonable arguments on both sides. For me, suffice it to say that I'm quite happy with an annual release cycle.
and the question remains: To buy or not to buy.
I really WANT an iPad Mini, but I don't NEED it. And I know I will be pissed if there is a Retina one around the corner.
I will wait.
I feel similar. I have a 64GB iPad 2 that serves me quite well. However, I've been saying for some time that when the 128GB model came out, that's when I'd really look to upgrade. Now, I had expected that the release of the 128GB model would see the whole product line move up in capacity (32GB for $499/$629, 64GB for $599/$729, and 128GB for $699/$829). The fact that they added it as a more expensive model, and my strong suspicion that the whole line will move up when the new major update is released, does hold me back.
But still, there's now a 128GB model to be had...
Tempting.... Very tempting....
