Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) event on Oct.23 expected to unveil the iPad Mini

Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL)’s invitation-only event for October 23 has raised hopes that the much-speculated iPad Mini will be finally unveiled by the company.

The invite to reporters, of course does not give any details of what’s in store beyond saying, "We’ve got a little more to show you."

Apart from the smaller iPad, the company is also expected to unveil a 13 inch Retina MacBook and probably an upgraded version of iTunes.

The event is being held at California Theatre in San Jose.

The speculation and rumoured images of the iPad Mini has been doing the rounds for a long while now; indeed even before the iPhone 5 was launched.

The iPad Mini is thought to be of smaller size than the regular iPad with a 7.85 inch display, in order to compete with the smaller sizes of the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire.

It will also be priced lower than the regular iPad, which stars at $499. The iPad Mini is likely to start at $249 or $299 according to most reports.

The late Steve Jobs was against the idea of a smaller tablet PC and felt that the 9.7 inch iPad was the optimal size for such a device. However the success of the Nexus and kindle Fires seem to have changed Apple's mind.

Apple usually starts selling a new phone or iPad a week or two after announcing it. But it could treat the new iPad as a minor product update, in which case it could start selling it right after the announcement.

Shares in Apple closed up 2.4 percent at $649.80.