Alleged iPad 5 Photos Show Thinner iPad Mini Design

The first unconfirmed photos of the iPad 5 show a new thinner design that looks much like the iPad mini with a black back and rounded edges.

9to5Mac shares the iPad 5 back photos next to the same part for the iPad mini, which the site says come from a, “purported China-based iPad accessories maker.”

The photos are the first to show what a larger iPad could look like with an iPad mini style, shows the possible size of the iPad 5 compared to the iPad mini. There are no photos of the back next to the iPad 4, so it’s not clear if the redesign cuts the iPad 5 down in size with thinner bezels.

The iPad mini vs. iPad 5 size comparison from purported iPad 5 back photos.

The photo above shows what looks to be a larger iPad mini, complete with the antenna for a 4G LTE connection. Based on the dimensions in the photo, the iPad 5 will be smaller than the iPad 4. Rough estimates based on the photo show the iPad 5 could be slightly shorter than the iPad 4. As the image below shows, the iPad 5 will likely be thinner side-to-side than the iPad 4. The reductions in size could be thanks to thinner bezels on the side of the iPad 5 display.

iPad 5 and iPad mini on the left and iPad 3 and iPad mini on right.

The side-by-side comparison shot also shows that the iPad 5 could be as thin as the iPad mini, which might mean more than a 20% reduction in thickness compared to the iPad 4.

This photo shows an alleged iPhone 5 back that is nearly as thin as the iPad mini.

As 9to5Mac points out, the appearance of these parts is not surprising, given rumors of a an iPad 5 release in the coming months. That said, with the launch of an iPad 4 with 128GB of storage today, users may need to await until the fall for the iPad 5 to arrive.

The latest iPad 5 rumors point to a release in October. This information comes from iLounge, which is generally reliable with information about upcoming Apple products.