14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is reportedly pushing forward with its plans to roll out updated versions of its hot selling tablets this spring, with the iPad 5 and the iPad mini 2 slated for an April launch, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans.
iMore cites reliable Apple connects as saying that the company is planning to release its iPhone 5S in August, but that it has other things to show us first – the fifth-generation (full-size) iPad and a second-generation iPad mini.
The iPad 5, as the media prefers to call it for writing convenience, will reportedly sport an updated design akin to that of the iPad mini.
In other words, the iPad 5 will be both slimmer and lighter, and it will presumably have a narrower screen bezel to reduce the overall size of the hardware while keeping the screen size intact.
“We've […] been told an April-ish launch is getting serious consideration for the next-generation iPads,” reports iMore, adding that “Retina for the iPad mini, however, still doesn't sound imminent.”
While Apple may in fact not equip the diminutive tablet computer with a higher-density display, the second-generation iPad mini is also slated for April 2013, the source said.
If Apple doesn’t hook up the iPad mini 2 with a Retina display, then something else will have to play the differentiator part, iMore speculates.
With its small chassis, there is literally very little room for speculation as to what differentiator may be. It already offers Siri and pretty much everything else that the bigger iPads offer.
Whatever Apple decides on hardware-wise, we’re chalking up April as a good time to keep our eyes peeled to the company’s press room for any special-event announcements.