Apple may hold separate iPhone 5, iPad Mini events

So far we’ve been hearing that Apple could debut both the iPhone 5 and smaller iPad at a September 12 media event, but with cold hard logic, No. 1 Apple fan John Gruber argues that it makes more sense for Apple to host two separate events.

It’s a convincing argument: After all, why would Apple want to have two major announcements share the spotlight, when it could whip up a media frenzy with multiple events?

Gruber’s post also led The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple to make a curious comment, “Oh, that Gruber is a smart fellow.” Dalrymple is known for confirming Apple rumors with a simple “Yep,” so his cryptic response this time around has many Apple watchers convinced that Gruber is spot on (or at least very close) with his prediction.

Apple has traditionally held a “music” event in October, when it debuts new iPhone models and makes announcements specifically related to the iTunes Store. According to Gruber, it makes sense for Apple to announce the iPad Mini at this event, since it will give the iPhone 5 the spotlight for at least a full month.

However the events pan out, this cryptic back-and-forth lends more weight to the idea of an iPad Mini. Surprisingly, we haven’t seen any leaked hardware online from the smaller iPad, even though plenty of supposed iPhone 5 hardware is floating around.