Apple is already preparing for its upcoming iPhone 6 smartphone, but the Cupertino giant is also reportedly boosting production in preparation for the iPad mini 3 release date. 

And in a new report, there are already a number of marketing cues which make us believe that Apple's well-loved mini slate will be hitting stores in the coming months. 

According to a report by Bloomberg, the iPad mini 3 has already entered mass production, which means that shipping for these devices would probably begin by the end of September. 

Meanwhile, according to a report from IB Times, the iPad mini 3 release date is almost here as AT&T holds an Apple tablet sale. In the report, the 16GB version of the iPad mini 2 only costs $200 in AT&T stores. That's certainly a huge price cut which only tells us one thing - the local carrier already wants to dispose all of its stocks because iPad mini 3 shipments could be arriving soon. 

In the same report, the iPad Air has also received a price cut, and is now available at only $329. However, this is only available through AT&T. 

Apple has been very patient this year in releasing its devices, and along the way the Cupertino giant is also considering possible rivals to its upcoming devices. 

As for the iPhone 6, the Galaxy Alpha from Samsung is a sleek-looking device with a metal frame and a powerful octa-core chipset. Interestingly, there are no existing or rumored high-end Android tablets who will make the splash next month. Its iWatch, which is also expected to arrive later this year already has a number of competitors from Samsung, LG, Sony and even Motorola. 

This leaves both the iPad mini 3 and the iPad Air ready to dominate this aspect of the market when the two devices gets announced in the coming weeks or months.