There's no doubt that Apple will be releasing another full-sized iPad this year, but the question is, will it be innovative enough? While it's hard to tell at the moment, a new unofficial artist rendering shows off the iPad 5 side by side with an iPad 4 and the iPad mini.
The image, shown above, lines up with previous reports that the iPad 5 will sport a design more akin to the iPad mini rather than previous 9.7-inch sized iPads. The iPad 5 should retain the 9.7-inch display size, but the surrounding bezels should be thinner, giving it a sleeker look.
A previously-leaked image that could be the iPad 5's back plate also confirms this, as it is shown to be almost identical to the iPad mini's, only bigger.
There's no way to confirm whether or not the iPad 5 will look like the iPad mini, since Apple is known for being tight-lipped ahead of launch events, but there are other reports and analyst statements that seem to support this claim.
"According to my inside source, iPad(5th) may be released in March, 2013. Source told that, design of this new iPad will be like iPad mini in detail, and be thinner and lightweight. (The expectation comes to have a small 4mm in height, 17mm in width, depth 2mm)," a Macotakara report stated.
"The iPad 5 is expected to be lighter and thinner than the iPad 4 that was released in October, while the form factor of the iPad mini should be similar to the first generation iPad mini that debuted in October," Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White wrote after attending CES 2013.
The iPad 5 is expected to release around March or June, and should accompanied by a Retina iPad mini 2 and the iPhone 5S.
Seen at Ubergizmo