APPLE TABLET 2010 LIKELY SEPTEMBER

At this point, it seems like people are just talking themselves in a circle about the rumored Apple Tablet. Everyone is so excited for it, not matter what it actually is, that they’re starting to convince themselves that it could drop as soon as next month. Rumors of that date started after an all-over-the-place report last month by the Financial Times, that seemed to suggest the tablet was both being prepared for September, and for the latter holiday season at the same time. As we said at the time, it seems unlikely that either are true.

And today brings more people backing that up. Sources tell The Loop that the tablet will definitely not be a part of the September event (which is likely to focus on music and the iPod, just like all other Apple September events do). Jim Dalrymple writes:

Very reliable sources familiar with the product have said speculation of the tablet being introduced during the September event are flat out wrong. The Apple tablet, they said, would not see the light of day until the first part of 2010.

In linking to Dalrymple’s piece, Daring Fireball says basically the same thing, “I’m almost certain there’s no tablet coming this year. It’s a 2010 thing,” writes John Gruber, who also has a very good track record on these types of things.

The point is that while all indications are that a tablet (or large-form iPod touch) is coming from Apple, 2010 seems like a much more likely launch window. Apple has spent the past couple of years doing smaller, more focused events centered around specific product categories. A September event with an Apple Tablet would simply overwhelm the other announcements they plant to make there, like the “Cocktail” project, iTunes 9 and entirely new iPod touches.

Instead, I’d bet on Apple doing another special event in the first quarter of 2010, focused around this new device and maybe previewing the iPhone 4.0 SDK which this thing may have something to do with (just a guess there). Remember, Apple isn’t doing Macworld this year, so it doesn’t necessarily even have to be in January, but rather they’ll wait until they’ve perfected it. Whatever it is.

Here are some pics of APPLE TABLET: