Apple to unveil new iPads, Macs on October 15

We aren’t even a week removed from Apple’s iPhone 5S, 5C media event yet we’re already hearing rumors concerning Cupertino’s next major product announcement. Early indications suggest Apple is preparing to showcase the next wave of iPads at a special press event on October 15.

Most believe Apple will debut the next generation full-sized iPad as well as a new iPad mini a month from now. The larger iPad 5 is expected to have a slight redesign that will see it more resemble the iPad mini while the latter device will almost certainly receive a Retina display.

The second part of Tim Cook’s “busy fall” is likely to include new Haswell-powered Macs and the launch of OS X Mavericks. The updated operating system is said to be pretty much finished. As such, a gold master could arrive any day now unless Apple decides to seed one final beta to developers.

The rumored date originated from MacGeneration, a French blog with a track record that’s described as mixed at best so take the news with a grain of salt. Apple did launch the fourth generation iPad and iPad mini last October which means we could very well see the same thing for 2013.

Apple’s new iPhone 5S and 5C will begin shipping this Friday, September 20. Current iOS users can pick up a free copy of iOS 7 starting on Wednesday, September 18.

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Intel 9-series chipsets may not be backwards compatible with Haswell

Intel's current generation of 'Haswell' processors, as well as the upcoming 'Broadwell' processors, will share the same LGA1150 CPU socket. However, the upcoming 9-series chipsets designed specifically for Broadwell may not be backwards compatible with Haswell, and the current 8-series chips designed for Haswell may not support Broadwell, which could cause a headache for motherboard manufacturers.

According to documentation obtained by VR-Zone, there are slight changes in the implementation requirements of the two processor families. Specifically, Broadwell processors require slightly different connections between the socket and chipset, mostly to facilitate a new power source called VCCST. If motherboard manufacturers implement these changes in their boards with 9-series chipsets, Haswell processors will likely be incompatible.

Leaked Intel roadmap pegs Broadwell for 2H 2014

A leaked Intel roadmap has revealed the company's next line of processors, codenamed 'Broadwell', are scheduled for release in the second half of 2014. Broadwell is the 14 nm shrink of the current 'Haswell' fourth-generation Core processors, however according to this roadmap Intel will be focusing on mobile parts at the expense of desktop.

Asus launches Z87-Deluxe/Quad motherboard, first with Thunderbolt 2

It was only in June that Intel finalized Thunderbolt 2, the second generation of their data interconnet technology, with Intel promising it would enter production by the end of the year. In keeping with that promise, Asus has announced the first Thunderbolt 2-certified motherboard, the Z87-Deluxe/Quad.