Apple iPad launch event live coverage

iPad Air release date, price, features and specs

iPad Mini with Retina display: release date, price, features and specs

Apple iPad launch: as it happened

7.25pm

Tim Cook is back on stage to bring the event to a close.

We'll be reporting a full, comprehensive list of specs for all the devices released today very soon

7.20pm

There's new covers to be released as well. Covers for iPad start at $39, a case starts at $79 for the Air and $69 for the mini. Product (RED) version are available too

7.18pm

The Mini will start at $399 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only model, original Mini bumped down to $299.

7.17pm

The Retina display rumours have been answers, it has one. 2048 x 1536 pixels, 7.9 inch screen. Also has the A7 chip. Up to 8x faster graphics and support for 4G LTE

7.16pm

Cue iPad Mini

7.13pm

Starting price of $499 for 16GB. $629 for cellular - no mention of 4G. Starts shipping November 1st. Available in silver, white, space grey and black.

iPad 2 keeps its place in the Apple store. iPad 3 & 4 Retinas given the boot

No TouchID sensor though as many people expected

7.11pm

72x faster in GPU performance over the original iPad.

Uses 802.11n Wi-Fi. 5MP iSight camera with 1080p HD video

7.09pm

The A7 chip is onboard, not the A7X as people expected. Gives up to 8x faster CPU performance

7.08pm

43% smaller bezel. 7.5mm thick, down from 9.4mm, and weighs just 450grams

7.06pm

iPad 5 is up first...and it's called iPad Air. Don't think anyone was expecting that

7.05pm

Phil Schiller is back on stage. iPad unveiling time!

7.03pm

475,000 dedicated iPad apps in the App Store

7.01pm

Here we go! Cook goes over recent iPad sales. Apple sold their 170 millionth iPad earlier this month. "Incredible numbers"

He reels off other usage statistics, and states the iPad is number 1 in customer satisfaction

7pm

Tim Cook is back on stage. iPads incoming?

6.55pm

iWork hasn't been forgotten, and also receives an update across the software; Pages, Numbers, and Keynote

Cloud integration is much better, with documents being able to be shared with just one click.

Several users are able to edit the same document

6.50pm

Garageband also receives an update. Can now use 16 tracks. 64-bit devices can handle up to 32.

All iLife updates will be free with purchase of any new Mac or iOS device

6.45pm

iMovie next. Again a new look, and some new features, including picture-in-picture. New browser and special slo-mo controls for 120fps videos taken on the iPhone 5S

6.42pm

Next on the agenda is iLife for iOS 7

iPhoto has been given a refreshed look, and now includes book making

6.40pm

The new Mac Pro is introduced

Intel Xeon E5 with 3,6,8 or 12-cores

Can handle up to 3 4K displays, support for HDMI 1.4

3.7GHz quad-core Xeon, 12GB DRAM, 2GB VRAM each, 256GB SSD for $2999

6.35pm

First up is the MacBook Pro

13 inch: Lighter, slimmer and comes sporting Intels Haswell prcoessor which includes Iris integrated graphics - up to 90% faster than previous generation.

Up to 9 hours battery life including movie playback

802.11ac Wi-Fi and Thunderbolt 2

And all for a tidy $1299, a $200 drop. This gets you a Retina display, 2.4GHz dual-core i5 processor, 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD

15 inch: Retina display, 2.0GHz quad-core i7, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD for $1999, again a $200 drop

6.30 pm

Here comes Phil Schiller to talk about the MacBook

Mavericks is FREE!

6.25pm

New features of Mavericks

Able to respond to notifications, from the notification pop up. Now offers notifications from selected websites - e.g. stock updates, sports score updates

Maps has been added in, including flyover maps.

iBooks has been given a refresh as well. Multi-touch gestures to move between pages. Videos can be played from within the 'book'

New feature called Tags - allows grouping of content by a particular subject e.g. Arts, Family, School

6.20pm

Graphics is next on the cards. Mavericks can allocate varying amounts of graphics when and where its needed

OpenCL has been brought onboard. Allows computers to run up to 2 times faster when processing graphics

6.15pm

Apple have chosen to start with updates to OS X Mavericks

Mavericks claims to give up to 1 hour longer web-browsing, 1.5 hours longer using iTunes

Mavericks utilizes compressed memory. Allows approximately 6GB RAM to run from 4GB. Increasing performance

6.10pm

20 million listeners on iTunes Radio.

Over 1,000,000 million apps, 60 billion app downloads.

6.08pm

Over 200 million devices running iOS 7 in just 5 days. 64% of devices running iOS 7.

6.05pm

Biggest iPhone launch ever, 9 million sold on launch weekend. As we knew. Now we're seeing a video from an Apple store.

6.00pm Tim Cook is on stage talking iPhone.

5.30pm:

The 30 minute countdown has begun

5.15pm

Sonny Dickson, the Australian teenager who dedicates his time (and some money) to uncovering Apple leaks, is busy posting new pictures purporting to be the new iPads.

The latest leak supposedly shows the new iPad's screen. Don't get too excited, everyone.

5pm:

One hour to go.

3pm:

The day of the Apple iPad launch event has arrived, with the event due to go live from 6pm this evening UK time.

We're expecting to see the new iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2, but with Apple's invite to the event saying, "We still have a lot to cover", we could see more besides.

An iPad keyboard cover? New colours? News on Apple TV? We shall see. We'll be updating this page and covering the news on our Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Catch-up on all the rumoured features and leaked pictures in our rumour round-ups below.

MORE: iPad 5 release date, news and rumours

MORE: iPad Mini 2 release date, news and rumours

Published previously:

Apple has officially confirmed a launch event for October 22nd, with the iPad 5 andiPad Mini 2 largely expected to be unveiled.

After weeks of speculation, Apple has sent out confirmation of an event on October 22nd, with the invite saying, "We still have a lot to cover".

The main focus of the event will undoubtedly be new iPads, with both the full-size iPad 4 and the iPad Mini expected to be updated.

With Apple promising "a lot to cover", it seems likely that there will be more besides, with the company's MacBooks also likely to get an update.

The new iPad Mini 2 is expected to have a retina display screen, lighter, slimmer design and a new chipset, while the iPad 5 is also likely to get a slimmer, lighter new chassis and a series of component upgrades.

It's likely the iPads will get a series of finishes in line with the space grey of the iPhone 5S, and could even incorporate the fingerprint sensor.

An Apple event on Tuesday October 22nd is likely to see the fifth generation iPad and new Mini in shops before the end of the month and in plenty of time for Christmas.

A price cut for existing iPads is also possible, with the existing iPad Mini potentially coming closer in price to the Google Nexus 7 2013 model.

What we do now know is that all will be revealed on Tuesday October 22nd, a week today. Watch this space.

MORE: Best tablets to buy in 2013

by Joe Cox

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Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).