Apple Confirms Oct. 16 Event With Invitations; iPad Air 2, New iMacs To Debut?

Apple confirmed rumors Wednesday that it would be holding its next big event this month, sending out invitations for an Oct. 16 event where it is expected to debut more new products.

The headline on the invitation reads, "It's been way too long."

The tech giant unveiled two new iPhones, the first Apple Watch and Apple Pay, its upcoming mobile payment system, at an event on Sept. 6.

Last October, Apple unveiled the thinner iPad Air, a new iPad Mini with Retina display, an updated Mac operating system, OS X Mavericks, and refreshes to its Macbook Pro and MacBook Air laptop lines.

The Cupertino-based company is rumored to be debuting a new 9.7-inch iPad Air and a smaller iPad Mini, which has been referred to as the "Mini 3," at next Thursday's event. Re/Code also reports that the event will show off new iMac computers.

With tablet sales on the decline, Apple is reportedly planning to offer the "Air 2" in gold, joining the Space Gray and Silver color options first made available with its predecessor. The color was initially offered in an Apple device last September with the iPhone 5S.

The new iPads will be a crucial addition to the Cupertino-based company's lineup for the holiday shopping season, especially considering sales of tablets have dropped for two straight quarters.

9to5Mac reported last week that a new 27-inch Retina iMac model with a 5K display will be unveiled at the event, possibly with a significant performance boost: an Intel Core i7-4790K, which offers a speed of 4.0GHz. The website also notes that the new iMac will adopt AMD graphics instead of the Nvidia graphics chips packed in the current iMacs. While the new 27-incher is expected to be a more premium offering, this could also mean that the current generation of non-retina iMacs will stick around as cheaper options.

According to an earlier report, the new iPad Air will feature the same design as its predecessor, but will come equipped with a new Apple A8 chip (compared to the A7 in the Air) and a better 8MP camera.

Well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has stated he believes the Air 2 will offer an A8 chip built by TSMC, Touch ID fingerprint security and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera.

Specs details for the Mini 3 have been sparse, but it also expected to arrive with Touch ID, an Apple A8 and an improved camera.

OS X Yosemite, the new Mac operating system update, is also expected to be released following the event.