The iPad mini with Retina display

A Retina display-equipped iPad mini now seems inevitable. In August, both The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported that Apple was working on such a device, and they said that it was likely that it'd use the same 7.9-inch screen size as the current tablet. If Apple decides to stick with its developer-friendly model of quadrupling the screen resolution when jumping up to Retina, the device will likely have a 2048 x 1536 resolution.

However, there has been some debate over when Apple could ship a Retina iPad mini. Reports haven't pinned down a specific date; the consensus seems to be that the device will be announced at the October 22nd event and ship in time for the all-important holiday season, but there have been hints of supply issues. Reuters reported earlier this month that supply will be very limited this year, while supply chain analysts IHS iSuppli concluded that Apple wouldn't be able to launch until the first quarter of next year. If a 2014 launch is accurate, it's unlikely that Apple will announce the tablet this month, as the company typically puts its products on sale soon after they're revealed. However, even if Apple can get supply in order for this year, the government shutdown could throw a wrench in the company's plans: much of the Federal Communications Commission's staff has been furloughed and can't approve new devices.