Apple's fall 2014 event brought with it an all new iPad Air 2, a somewhat updated iPad mini 3, gorgeous new retina iMacs, and finally, an update to the very long in the tooth Mac mini. Make no mistake, this was no small event for Apple and they delivered on a lot. However, there are still a few things that were either rumored or expected that didn't seem make the cut this fall.
Retina MacBook Air
It's arguable that a Retina Display MacBook Air has been one of the most highly anticipated items of the year. Unfortunately, it's most likely not going to happen until the spring at the earliest. Most of this can be attributed to Intel's continued delays of their new Broadwell chips that would bring power consumption in line with what Apple would expect in the MacBook Air line. A Retina Display draws a lot more power and portable computers are a little more tricky than desktop computers, because you know, battery.
So for now, we have Retina iMacs, which are an amazing upgrade in their own right.
iPad mini 3 performance boosts
One of the only things that disappointed me personally during this event was how much of a shaft the third generation iPad mini got. Not only does it not get the [new A8X chip](http://, it also didn't get an upgraded camera or 802.11ac support. Basically, the iPad mini 3 with Retina Display is pretty much what we got last year with the addition of Touch ID, a gold option, and upgraded storage.
For people that really wanted the power of an iPad Air in a smaller form factor, the iPad mini 3 unfortunately isn't it.
NFC-enabled iPads
The new iPads were rumored by many sources to receive NFC capabilities for use with Apple Pay. While we never really fancied the idea of tapping to pay with an iPad, we know there are some folks out there that for one reason or another, wanted to see an NFC capable iPad.
Looks like we'll have to wait at least another year to witness people dropping their iPads off a Starbucks counter while trying to use Apple Pay. Damn...
iPad Pro
Rumors of an iPad Pro were growing rather persistent as we neared launch, specifically a 12.9" model. If I were to take an educated guess on why, I'd almost certainly think it may have to do with Apple not being able to get battery life where it needs to be for a screen that large. If you remember, the iPad 2 never received a Retina Display for what was believed to be a similar reason.
For whatever reason, it's not going to see the light of day this year. When Apple feels comfortable with the performance, it's probably a product we'll see.
5K Thunderbolt 2 display
This is one thing I know a lot of my colleagues and many designers really wanted to see happen. Considering the new Retina Display iMacs pack a 5K display, it isn't unreasonable to assume that Apple could easily adapt the same technology into a standalone Apple display. However, for some reason they decided not to follow through on that.
However, a 5K display may be something that Apple opted not to devote stage time to. At this point, I wouldn't rule out the fact that we may see it eventually crop up in a press release or just appear in the online Apple Store.
Apple TV
Some people were really hoping for a refreshed Apple TV, even though we had a feeling it wouldn't see the light of day until next spring. When iOS 8 was released in September, newer revisions of the Apple TV received a decent update that overhauled the entire interface. And for now, that's going to have to be enough to hold us over until spring.
New iPod touches
The iPod touch hasn't been updated since the fall of 2012 and is starting to show its age. There's no Touch ID support and even though it supports the latest version of iOS, it can't take advantage of many features simply due to its age. While we didn't expect to see new iPod touches at this event, it's still an item in Apple's lineup that's still biding its time.
Your impressions?
If you tuned into Apple's live stream or followed our coverage live, are there any items you were secretly crossing your fingers for that aren't listed above? If so, be sure to let me know what as well as your opinions on today's announcements in the comments!
