Apple is likely to reveal the iPad 3 at its event planned for next Wednesday. Until then, at least, we’ve got another week to get through, and you can bet that we’ll be hearing plenty of last-minute rumors about Apple’s plans. Today, a pair of such claims are getting some attention, revisiting the idea of an iPad mini, and thinking about the possibility of a budget version of the iPad 2.
The idea of Apple releasing a slightly smaller version of the iPad is nothing new; we heard just such a rumor last month. This time, it’s supposedly backed-up by reports from sources close to Apple’s supply chain. According to them, there’s an iPad with a 7.85-inch display that’s being worked on now, with the possibility that it could be ready for a release sometime in Q3; even if that’s true, being so far in the future means we’d be unlikely to hear Apple address it next week.
Our second iPad rumor this morning looks at iPad 2, and how Apple might encourage sales even in the face of a superior iPad 3. Supposedly, Apple is preparing an 8GB version of the iPad 2, which might be priced somewhere in the $350-$400 range. If we end up seeing the 7.85-inch iPad mini, that could be cheaper still, fetching $300 or less. That last claim sounds like a bit of a long shot, but an 8GB iPad 2 is a perfectly plausible idea; with any luck we’ll find out this rumor’s fate next Wednesday.
