Expect iPad mini, more from Apple on Tuesday

Apple’s next event is less than 24 hours away and everyone expects that the iPad mini will be the star of the show. But it’s not expected to be alone.

Here’s everything we expect Apple to announce tomorrow.

iPad mini (or iPad Air)

Apple is widely expected to unveil a smaller version of its iPad tablet. The device will likely feature a 7.85-inch display, but it might not have the high-resolution Retina display that Apple includes on some of its products.

The new tablet is believed to have a coated aluminum back cover similar to the iPhone 5, as well as the new Apple Lightning dock connector. Additionally, alleged pictures of the tablet show it will have two speakers, although some pre-announcement pictures have turned out to be false in the past.

Like the bigger iPad, the mini is expected to be available in a version that will connect to cellular networks as well as Wi-Fi. The new device’s main competitors — the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon 7-inch Kindle Fire HD — are Wi-Fi only.

Reports have said the iPad mini could be priced starting at $250 or as high as $329.

As for the name, it’s been widely expected the device will be called the iPad mini, but a report last week challenged that name, saying it may be called the iPad Air.

13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina

This summer, Apple introduced a lighter and slimmer version of its 15-inch MacBook Pro that also included the higher-resolution Retina display. On Tuesday, Apple might introduce its 13-inch counterpart in time for the holidays.

If Apple does announce a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina it is expected to have a 2,560-by-1,600 pixel display. The current 13-inch MacBook Pro by comparison has a 1,280-by-800 pixel resolution.

Additionally, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina is not expected to have an optical drive, and it is believed to start at $1,699.

Mac mini

There haven’t been many details on what exactly Apple plans to do to the Mac mini, it’s tiny desktop computer, but 9 to 5 Mac reports that the tech company will give the machine some sort of upgrade. For reference, the Mac mini’s internals were updated last year and it was renovated two years ago, but we’ll find out how much of an update the small computer gets, if it gets one at all, on Tuesday.

iMac

Even more vague than reports about the Mac mini is the iMac desktop computer. 9 to 5 Mac and Apple Insider have reported that Apple plans to update the computer, but since there haven’t been many details as to what will be new, our guess is it will mostly receive internal upgrades or receive USB 3.0 ports.

9.7-inch iPad (Third generation)

Another rumor that has been floating around the Web on several reports is that Apple may give a slight change to its current third-generation 9.7-inch iPad.

Last month, Apple released the iPhone 5 and introduced the new Lightning dock connector, and it is believed the company may add it to the current iPad. Adding to the speculation was an alleged photo of the third-generation iPad with the Lightning connector, which recently hit the Web.

Besides the iPhone 5, the Lightning dock is also on the new iPod Touch and the new iPod Nano. It is also expected to be on the iPad mini, so adding it to the current iPad wouldn’t be far-fetched.

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