Analyst Predictions for Apple’s October 22nd Event: Thinner, Lighter iPad 5 with A7X chip, Retina iPad mini 2 with A7 chip, No Touch ID or Gold color option

KGI Securities Analyst Ming Chi Kuo has issued a new research report to investors, in which he has provided his predictions for Apple’s media event on October 22nd.

Kuo has a good track record when it comes to predicting Apple product plans based on his supply chain sources. 

Here are some of the highlights from that report:

iPads

• Not surprisingly, he expects the new iPads to take center stage at the event.

• He expects the iPad 5 to be 20% lighter and thinner compared to the iPad 4, down to 7.5mm and 500 grams respectively.

• He predicts iPad 5 to come with narrower bezels like the iPad mini.

• He predicts the iPad mini 2 will sport a Retina Display with resolution of 2048×1536 pixels (same as the iPad 4 and the iPad 5).

• He expects iPad mini 2 to be powered by A7 chip that powers iPhone 5s, and iPad 5 to be powered by a variant of the A7 chip, called the A7X chip, just as we’re expecting.

• He claims that iPad 5 will come with an 8-megapixel camera and have a larger aperture, suggesting that it could get the same camera as iPhone 5s. Apple has typically used the camera module from previous generation iPhone, so it would be a welcome change. He says that the change in strategy is to bring the iPad camera on par with other Android based tablets

• He doesn’t expect the new iPads to come with Touch ID fingerprint sensor due to production constraints Apple is facing with the iPhone 5s.

• He also doesn’t expect the new iPads to be available in gold color because of the same reason.

MacBook Pros:

• He expects MacBook Pro product line to be updated with Haswell processors, and the camera to be upgraded from HD to full HD. The updated MacBook Pros with Haswell processors should offer significantly improved battery life.

• He also expects the new MacBook Pros to come with faster PCIe SSDs and 802.11ac Wi-Fi that were introduced in the MacBook Air and iMac product lineup earlier this year.

Based on these predictions, he also made forecasts on how many units Apple will ship in the fourth quarter.

We don’t have to wait too long to find out if his predictions will turn out to be accurate, but they seem to in line with rumors and speculations we’ve heard so far. We’ll be live blogging the event so don’t forget to join us at 10am PT or 1pm ET or 6pm GMT on Tuesday, October 22nd.

[Via 9to5Mac]

Posted by iPhoneHacks on Oct 20, 2013 - iphonehacks.com