Kevin Bostic
Images showing the purported rear casing for the next generation of Apple's iPad have once again emerged, showing off a design shift that brings the larger tablet in line with the look of its smaller sibling, the iPad mini.
Images of a supposed mould for the iPad 5 case showed up on the blog Tactus on Tuesday. The moulds hint at a device that maintains the same general shape as previous iPads, but sports a smaller bezel. Should the next iPad conform to these moulds, it would also be a much thinner device, reportedly close to the iPad mini's depth.
The report also holds that the "iPad 5" will "be backed in shiny modern aluminum" and that the volume rocker and power input for the device are in the same location as on the iPad mini.
Meanwhile, images out of Hong Kong of a separate third-party case seem to corroborate the latest account. A supposed case for the next iPad has shown up in the wild, pictured by Engadget in a post on Tuesday. The case adheres to the same design features: thinner bezel, with the same screen size, a thinner design, and an iPad mini-like body.
The notion of a new full-size iPad with smaller bezel also gained support last week, when photos of a supposed cover glass surface for a new iPad appeared online. The components pictured also had shallow rounded corners like the mini does.
Since Apple introduced the iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad, rumors have circulated that the fifth-generation iPad would adopt the design cues of its smaller counterpart. Supposed cases have popped up from time to time, each time adhering to a scaled-up version of the mini's design.
Some current speculation has Apple readying a rapid follow-up to the fourth-generation iPad for some time this summer. Details on the device are scarce, but it is possible that it will have lower thickness and weight due to the use of more efficient LEDs.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
26 Comments
Images showing the purported rear casing for the next generation of Apple's iPad have once again emerged, showing off a design shift that brings the larger tablet in line with the look of its smaller sibling, the iPad mini.
I buy it. I don't like it, but I buy it.
Also, what's with the hideous watermark? If anyone wants to steal your image as their own, they will. Just do it once and stop ruining images.
Well, THAT'S horrible. And how is it 'modern' if Apple has been LEAVING that style with all its recent devices?
It's shed a lot of weight. Wonder if they can get it down to a pound.
Shocker! The obvious prediction made by everyone, every single day since the iPad mini went on sale, might be a true thing! Whooda thunk it? Why anyone uses a case I will never understand, but that's another thing altogether.
It's shed a lot of weight. Wonder if they can get it down to a pound.
Not to be picky, but I think you mean "volume" not "weight" (we don't know the weight yet), and it actually hasn't shed much volume in any case.
It looks the same thickness (or more) and has only shed a tiny bit of the edges, which might be more than made up for by the volume increase engendered by the changed profile (less tapered).
I hope they can get it under a pound this time too, but we shall have to wait and see. One thing the iPad mini has proven is that weight, and weight alone is a huge factor in differentiating tablet products. I know lots of folks like me that after picking up the iPad mini just once, refuse to go back to the "brick" that is the regular iPad. Apple should stop concentrating on adding features and other gimmickry and focus on the weight directly.
An iPad with the same specs but half the weight will apparently sell twice as well as the same product with the original weight. We really need to get out of the lumbering "dinosaur" age of tablets that are almost as big and heavy as their laptop alternatives, and get some nice small, lightweight portables out there.
"be backed in shiny modern aluminum" thereby forcing the use of a rear case to cover up that highly scratch prone "shiny modern aluminum". maddening...