Thursday Apple Rumors: iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 to Get 8MP Cameras

by Christopher Freeburn | October 3, 2013 12:48 pm

[1]Here are your Apple rumors[2] and AAPL news items for today:

Enhanced: When Apple (AAPL[3]) unveils its fifth generation iPad and a refreshed iPad Mini in coming weeks, the tablets will include higher-resolution cameras[4], AppleInsider notes. Sources say that both tablets will get 8MP sensors made by Sony (SNE[5]). The fourth generation iPad and current iPad Mini both feature 5MP camera sensors. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also notes that Apple plans to include a five-element lens and larger aperture on the iPad 5, built by Genius Optics and Largan, which provide camera components found in the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Apple is widely expected to debut the iPad 5 at a special media event later this month. The timing of the launch of a refreshed iPad Mini remains uncertain due to reported production problems with Retina screens for the tablet. Recent rumors indicate that Apple may not be able to launch a Retina iPad Mini until early 2014.

Not Always Friendly: Discussions between a billionaire investor and Apple CEO Tim Cook weren’t quite as pleasant as first noted[6], Business Insider indicates. Earlier this week, Carl Icahn said he had sat down to dinner with Cook and aggressively argued that the iPad-maker should increase its planned share buyback program from $60 billion to $150 billion. Though Icahn tweeted that his dinner with Cook had been “cordial,” he noted that there were points of disagreement in a subsequent interview on CNBC. In fact, the discussions were occasionally “a little testy,” Icahn told CNBC. Cook, who was accompanied by CFO Peter Oppenheimer, contended that shareholders should not have input into the ways management handled Apple’s huge cash reserves — now about $147 billion. Icahn said he disagreed, saying that the board “is not appointed by God” and should listen to shareholders. Speaking of the share buyback, Icahn added: “I’m not going away before they hear a lot more from me concerning this.” The activist investor has tangled with the management teams of a number of technology companies, most recently trying to scuttle Michael Dell’s effort to take Dell (DELL[7]) private.

Movement: Apple has cleared another hurdle in a bid to begin work on its new high-tech campus[8], CNET notes. The planning commission for Cupertino, Calif., voted on Wednesday to approve the plans for Apple’s new headquarters. The approval had been expected. The plans include a futuristic 2.8 million-square-foot, circular building that is said to resemble a spaceship. The plans were drawn up before Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs died in 2011, but have faced delays and cost over-runs. Initially designed to accommodate 6,000 workers, the revised plans from Foster + Partners include space for 14,000 employees. Wednesday’s vote sends the plans to Cupertino’s city council, which will take a final vote on the project on Oct. 19.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[9] stories.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/10/thursday-apple-rumors-ipad-5-and-ipad-mini-2-to-get-8mp-cameras/

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