Last years update of the iPad Air and iPad mini left a lot of people disappointed with what was essentially just the addition of Touch ID.
Since then, the rumour mill has been going into overdrive with suggestions of a complete redesign for the fourth iteration of the iPad mini, with more elements taken from its younger sibling, the iPad Air such as a much thinner casing.
Well it looks like those whispers could in fact be true as French site Nowhereelse.fr have shared a handful of images, as well as a short video, from @OnLeaks showing off what is apparently an early version of the new iPad minis rear casing.
While the aluminium shell still closely resembles that of the current iPad mini, it definitely has some elements inspired by the iPad Air 2.
The two rows of speaker holes have now been swapped for the single run next to the lightning port and theres now a speaker hole in lieu of the old mute switch/orientation lock.
Its difficult to tell if this new iPad mini will be thinner than previous models, but thats no doubt a possibility as Apple have a tendency to go as thin as possible with each generation. As well as a fresh new design, the new iPad mini will most likely adopt one of Apples newer processors with a choice of the iPad Air 2’s A8X or perhaps even the new A9 processor which is due out later in the year.
While Apple are pre occupied with the launch of their new watch, theres been little to no word on when an update for the iPad mini might launch, but given that Apple are creatures of habit, its likely we wont be seeing a brand new mini until the later half of 2015.
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