Apple most likely to release iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 this month

After many months of impatient waiting, Apple’s yearly iPad event is finally coming. Apple will hold its invite-only event on October 22, and that neatly falls in line with what we’ve been hearing out of the rumor mill. While there haven’t been any firm details about the release date of the next iPad and iPad Mini, a November 1 release is the most likely — at least in the United States.

Despite all of the excitement, iPad revisions aren’t the only news scheduled to come out of this event. All things has been led to believe that OS X Mavericks and the new Mac Pro will be highlighted prominently at this event. Since Apple has already promised the launch of the cylindrical Mac Pro, and Mavericks has gone gold, these seem like very safe bets. The MacBook Pro still hasn’t received a bump up to Intel’s Haswell platform, so it’s likely that we’ll see that announcement bundled into this event as well.

Apple’s fifth-generation iPad is widely expected to be smaller and thinner than the current-generation model, and it will seemingly be redesigned to better match the look of the iPad mini. Photos of purported casings from the “iPad 5″ have been pictured a number of times, most recently in the new space gray color that Apple introduced on the new iPhone 5s.

The stars of the show, though, are the new iPads. The iPad mini 2 is expected to introduce a Retina display to the 7.9-inch iOS tablet, as well as a more powerful processor and graphics to drive it, though still keep the compact form-factor. It’s unclear whether Apple will be able to launch it at the same price as the existing model, or if it will command a premium and the original iPad mini remain on sale as an entry-level option.

As for the full-sized iPad5, that’s predicted to slim its bezels in the same manner as the iPad mini for its fifth-generation, as well as get a version of the Apple A7 processor included in the iPhone 5s. Unclear, but widely discussed, is whether each new iPad will integrate Apple’s Touch ID biometric fingerprint scanner in their home buttons, as demonstrated first on the new iPhone.

Apple will likely show off a few other new products that will launch ahead of the holidays as well, possibly including an updated Apple TV set-top box and refreshed Mac computers.