Apple’s October 22 iPad And Mac Event Now Official As Press Receive Invites

Apple has announced a special event to be held next week on October 22, after that date was leaked first by AllThingsD and then later confirmed by The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple. If rumors prove correct, the event will most likely feature the reveal of a fifth generation iPad, a Retina iPad mini, new Haswell-powered Retina MacBook Pros with better battery life, and potentially a ship date for the already-announced new Mac Pro.

The event will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, with a 10 AM PDT kick-off time, and as you can see from the graphic, Apple’s only hint as to what’s on tap is the tagline “We still have a lot to cover,” which does imply a variety of things will be shown off at once.

New MacBook Pros with Retina will probably see the most benefit in terms of battery life, as the Haswell-powered MacBook Air variants revealed earlier this year have extended life that hits the 12-hour mark. As for the iPad, the 5th generation is rumored to be getting a makeover that will include a smaller bezel and a thinner and lighter case, to match the iPad mini’s current design. The iPad mini, however, may gain slightly in terms of profile and weight, in order to provide additional power for similar long-lasting battery life despite the better, double resolution display. We could also see fresh Apple TV hardware, though probably just a new version of the settop streaming box, rather than the mythical television set sometimes floated by analysts over the years.

A rumor from earlier today on French website MacG claims that the new hardware starring at this event will go on sale shortly after, with the MacBook Pro available on the 24th or 25th of October, and the new iPads coming just under a week after that on October 30 or 31. The Mac Pro, they claim, will arrive on November 15, which is still within the loose “fall” timeline previously stated by Apple. Apple’s new Mac Pro design is a much different affair than the existing silver rectangle, and is made up of a svelte black cylinder that depends on high-speed external ports for expandability. It’ll be assembled in the U.S., which is likely why Apple partners Flextronics has just revealed an ongoing major hiring surge.

One final announcement likely for the event is the availability of OS X Mavericks, Apple’s next-gen desktop operating system. Expect it to ship in time for new MacBook Pros to hit store shelves. Mavericks includes a number of improvements, including tabbed Finder browsing and much-improved multi-screen monitor support.

We’ll be there live to bring you all the news from the Apple event as it happens, so tune in right here for coverage next week.