iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 Hardware Leaks with New Designs

A new iPad looks to be right around the corner, as Apple is preparing to announce a slew of new products tomorrow, but leaked photos of the 5th-generation iPad have been uncovered, and they show off the new tablet in crisp detail. The new slate is also compared next to the iPad 4, which puts the iPad 5 as a slightly thinner and smaller tablet than the previous generation.

The photos are courtesy of Sonny Dickson, and he also reveals a side-by-side look at the iPad mini 2 with the original model. The photos of the iPad 5 look pretty similar to earlier leaks that we’ve seen during the past week or so. Of course, we can’t be 100% positive that this is real, but if it is, the new 5th-gen iPad will be a bit smaller thanks to thinner bezels on the sides (similar to the iPad mini), and the tablet will also be just a tad thinner than the iPad 4.

Sonny’s photos of the iPad mini show that the 2nd-generation model will almost look identical to the first-gen version, save for just a few minor changes. The color of the buttons on the side and top are different, and the Lightning port seems to be just ever-so-slightly changed compared to the last gen.

However, it’s hard to tell whether or not these photos show an authentic iPad 5 and iPad mini 2, as they only show an Apple logo on the back without the iPad name and model information toward the bottom. Other than that, though, the photos look pretty convincing, and are spot on compared to other leaks that we’ve seen during the past couple of weeks.

These photos also give us a look at what iOS 7 will look like on the iPad, but there’s not a whole lot to say on that front, as it looks just like what we would expect — very similar to iOS 7 on the iPhone, except that the icons are a bit spread out more over the 9.7-inch display of the iPad, and the 7.9-inch display of the iPad mini.

Last week, we saw a couple of videos showing off the iPad 5 and the iPad mini 2, and Sonny’s photos go right along with that, but that still doesn’t mean we can’t write it off just yet. We’ll ultimately have to wait and see what Apple pulls out of their hats tomorrow when the company unveils a handful of new toys, including new iPads, the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, and possibly some new MacBook Pros with Intel Haswell chips on board.