We marked October 22 on the calendar and canceled our appointments. We were almost certain that Apple would hold its second fall keynote on that day and unveil new Macs and iPads. But then, just when we were expecting an invitation, Cupertino sent us instead a press release with details of the 7th-gen iPad mini… and nothing else.

Apple has held an October event in three out of the past four years, but is an event this month still likely after today's surprise iPad mini

The iPad mini 7 is now official – and the tablet's specs reveal that Apple has cut a few corners to keep its price tag low.