iPad 5 Rumors Round-up

The iPad 5 is Apple's next generation 9.7-inch tablet that will feature an iPad mini-style design with a smaller size, thinner side bezels, and an improved processor.

Apple is expected to announce its new thinner iPad 5 and an iPad Mini with Retina display this week. The claims come in a report from Ming-Chi Kuo, a Thai analyst for a Bangkok based investment firm KGI Securities. He has a strong track record in predicting Apple's product plans.

According to the report, the new iPad 5 will be 20% thinner with the measurements as 169.5 x 239.2 x 7.2mm shown in the leaked video by the Chinese parts supplier sw-box.com. iPad 5 is more lighter than the current model, and will have the same narrow bezel design as the iPad Mini. But the new tablets probably won't have the fingerprint scanning Touch ID feature developed for the iPhone 5S as there is no tangible evidence to suggest Touch ID will be appearing on the iPad. Kuo does expect the new M7 motion tracking chip to make the jump from phone to tablet.

Kuo was the first to anticipated the gold iPhone 5s, the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, and the removal of the iPhone 5 from the product line-up, all of which he called long before their official announcement.

Kuo claims the new iPad will include an 8-megapixel rear camera. It’s a vast improvement on the current iPad 4's 5-megapixel offering. The new image sensor is said to be 15 per cent larger and can let in 33 per cent more light.

The new iPad Mini 2 is expected to have a Retina display, boasting a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, which will put it ahead of its competitors, Google's Nexus 7 II and Amazon's Kindle Fire HD.

Rumours have suggested that Apple is looking to ditch the two LED backlighting bars found in the previous iPad models and replace it with one to decrease the device’s overall weight. This removal of one of the LED tubes would also improve battery life.

Chinese social site Weibo leaked an image of the rear casing for the iPad 5. The image reveals Apple has done away with the angular edges of the iPad 4 in favour of a more curved design like the mini, along with adding the mini-style speakers either side of the Lightning port.

A sketchy rumor has suggested Apple could be considering adding both a sapphire home button and a Touch ID fingerprint sensor to the iPad 5, and a recent video discovered that the iPad 5 will include a smaller home button that could potentially support the hardware. It remains unclear, however, whether Apple plans to expand its Touch ID fingerprint sensor to its iPad lineup at this point in time.

Apple is hosting a media event on October 22 that will focus on the fifth-generation iPad and the new iPad mini. The event will take place at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco, with satellite events in both London and Japan.