But in true Apple fashion, the company has been noncommittal about the exact date of the event and what it will be showing off.

I’ve asked Apple for comment and will report back if the company responds. But the timing makes sense and shouldn’t come as a surprise since Apple (AAPL) has traditionally used the week following Labor Day to show off new products and refresh existing product lines.

Two years ago, for instance, Apple introduced the iPod touch, which has since become a key part of the company’s arsenal. Last year, the event featured less substantial changes, like an overhaul of the iPod Nano.

Given that Apple has tipped off music industry executives, it’s a fair bet that the event will incorporate music in some way. Perhaps it will show off the new “Cocktail” format that Apple has been working on, which bundles full-length albums with other goodies like album covers and interactive bells and whistles.

But unless Apple unveils its so-called iTablet, a touchscreen device that’s supposed to be a cross between an iPhone and a full-fledged MacBook laptop computer, there are going to be a lot of disappointed Apple acolytes.

The other big appearance the Apple faithful will be looking for will be Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who hasn’t made an official public appearance since a keynote presentation last October.

During Apple’s September 2008 keynote, Jobs took time to dismiss reports that he was in failing health. But in January, Jobs said a “hormone imbalance” required him to step away from day-to-day leadership at the company, and news later surfaced that Jobs had undergone a liver transplant last spring. He’s been officially back at work since late June.

The event may explain as well the “future product transition” that compelled Apple to forecast a nearly 5 percent drop in gross profit margin for the final quarter of the 2008 fiscal year. Apple offered few details of that transition, though CFO Peter Oppenheimer said during a July earnings call that it will involve “state-of-the-art new products that our competitors just aren’t going to be able to match.”

“One of the investments we make is to introduce new products that initially cost more because they deliver an entirely new level of value to the customer,” Apple COO Tim Cook said during the same call. “Then we ride the cost curves down with value engineering and volume manufacturing, leaving us far ahead of our competitors. We have some of these types of investments in front of us that I can’t discuss.”

Until Tuesday, Oct. 14, that is.