Apple seems determined to pursue a less-tapered design

Sep 18, 2012 15:45 GMT  ·  By

From China with love comes a set of purported iPad mini spy-shots giving us a clear picture of what the next iPad from Apple will look like. By now, the tablet's design is all but confirmed.

Not that we didn’t know what the iPad mini looked like already, but it seems Bolopad.com has obtained some high-quality images that depict the finalized design of the rumored tablet computer.

While the on-screen image is nothing but a sticker under the glass, the aluminum shell is believed to be the real deal. Picked up by 9to5mac, the photo gallery is scarce, but enough to convince us that Apple is pursuing a less-tapered design with the new, smaller iPad.

Production orders for the iPad are said to be shared by both Foxconn and Pegatron this year.

In fact, the scales are tipped in Pegatron’s favor this time around, as the Taiwanese assembler is said to have scored orders for the iPad mini in the millions. 50 to 60% of these babies will be spit out by Pegatron alone, a local newspaper said.

Even though Apple is yet to confirm this product, analysts are convinced that CEO Tim Cook is planning to take the tablet industry by storm with the introduction of an eight-inch version of the iPad created with iPad 2 parts.

Not only would Apple be able to keep production costs down, but this new tablet could sell by the millions with a $200 price point. Not to mention that it would muffle competitors’ attempts to take home a slice of the pie.

An event is rumored for the October timeframe when Apple is said to introduce this new iPad, alongside other new / refreshed products. New Macs are likely on the table before year’s end, and the first-in-line to get a hardware upgrade is the 13-inch MacBook Pro, followed by the iMac.

Photo Gallery (2 Images)

Alleged iPad mini spy-shots
Alleged iPad mini spy-shots
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