High-quality images claim to show 'iPad mini' housing in detail

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
New photos claiming to show the machined aluminum back casing bound for a rumored 7.85-inch iPad hit the web on Wednesday, adding to the mountain of purported leaks relating to Apple's fall iDevice lineup.

While the pictures from Chinese website digi.163 (via nowhereelse.fr) appear to match previous images of the so-called "iPad mini," closer inspection of the part reveals slight discrepancies regarding the rumored tablet's design.

Perhaps most obvious is the placement of the headphone jack, which was thought to be located at the bottom of the device alongside the device's dock connector and repositioned speakers. Pictures of a large flex cable allegedly meant for the smaller iPad surfaced last month, clearly showing the 3.5mm jack situated adjacent to the new 9-pin connector.

iPad mini Housing
Source: digi.163


Interestingly, recent images of alleged iPad mini cases corroborate the top-mounted headphone jack design. Those same photos also showed an opening for a rear-facing camera and a mysterious small hole, the use of which is not yet known.

iPad mini Housing


Also seen in the fresh photos are cut-outs for the unit's volume and power button, a rear-facing camera, speaker assembly and a smaller dock connector.

iPad mini Housing


There are a number of possibilities as to why Wednesday's photos don't line up with the previous flex cable images, including a redesign or the illegitimacy of one of the supposedly leaked parts.

iPad mini Housing


Apple is rumored to be launching the 7.85-inch iPad in October, with the device expected to be as thin as the iPod touch while retaining some of the media player's design assets like thinner bezels.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 38


    A very nice unibody with dock connector and speaker grills that sure look like an Apple product.


     


    time will tell...

  • Reply 2 of 38


    The iPad mini is looking more and more like a reality!

  • Reply 3 of 38
    Will Tim Cook ever going to do anything about all this leaks? Is this the new Apple mandate, let everyone in on whatever new products they're working on? It seems to me they're having major security issues.
  • Reply 4 of 38
    tania wrote: »
    Will Tim Cook ever going to do anything about all this leaks? Is this the new Apple mandate, let everyone in on whatever new products they're working on? It seems to me they're having major security issues.

    ... and?
  • Reply 5 of 38
    tania wrote: »
    Will Tim Cook ever going to do anything about all this leaks? Is this the new Apple mandate, let everyone in on whatever new products they're working on? It seems to me they're having major security issues.

    The stockholders sure are happy about the leaks. All time high after all time high.
  • Reply 6 of 38
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Shaped like an iPod Touch with smaller side bezels would not a good idea IMO. It could have uniform bezels and the same screen aspect ratio as the iPhone/Ipod but they'd have to change the 10" iPad to the same screen aspect next year. I actually think that would be ok as the 1.5 aspect is fine in portrait. A4 paper is pretty much half way between the 4:3 aspect of the iPad and 3:2 aspect of the iPod so either direction is fine really and obviously 1.5 works better for movies.

    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/11701/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]
  • Reply 7 of 38


    Anyone else think that this looks more molded than machined?  Hoping to see some Liquid Metal here.  It's resilience would be good for a product that is so conveinent to carry / give to kids.

  • Reply 8 of 38

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by steamboat View Post


    Anyone else think that this looks more molded than machined?  Hoping to see some Liquid Metal here.  It's resilience would be good for a product that is so conveinent to carry / give to kids.





    i had the same thought, but i checked iFixit's iPad teardown. it looks like they used the same process. 

  • Reply 9 of 38
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    This doesn't look tapered like the current iPad. I wonder what the thickness is compared to the current iPad.
  • Reply 10 of 38


    Notice the bottom left corner of the first photo.


    Doesn't it seem to just keep going and going?


    I realize it may just be an odd angle, but...


    Something seems terribly wrong there.


     


    Quote:


    Originally Posted by steamboat View Post


    Anyone else think that this looks more molded than machined?  Hoping to see some Liquid Metal here.  It's resilience would be good for a product that is so conveinent to carry / give to kids.



     


    Look at the third and fourth photos.


    You can't get those kinds of recess and protrusion features from a mold.


    Besides, you can see the milling lines along the interior flats on the second photo.

  • Reply 11 of 38


    This is either a fake or an early prototype. There are no mounting screw holes. Compare to this image of an iPad 3 back plate:


     


  • Reply 12 of 38


    Why is it all this leaks comes from China website? Hahahaha..........I thought the process would be at Apple California itself?



    I like the best part there is that IBM Thinkpad behind the photo......


     


    I am guessing the new iPad mini would be much slimmer than this one. It would be somewhere around the size of Samsung Tab 7.7.


     


    Can't wait for this to be out..........much lighter and smaller.......

  • Reply 13 of 38


    The headphone on the bottom never made any sense. The ipad sits upright on your desk, a headphone connection on the bottom would make that impossible. The iPhone is more often held in the hand or sideways, so doesn't present that problem.

  • Reply 14 of 38

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by montefuego View Post


    The headphone on the bottom never made any sense. The ipad sits upright on your desk, a headphone connection on the bottom would make that impossible. The iPhone is more often held in the hand or sideways, so doesn't present that problem.



     


    I agree.  I'm looking forward to the headphone jack placement on the new iPhone.  :D

  • Reply 15 of 38
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    This looks well crafted but the thickness seems unwieldily for what I assume would be a requirement for a small Apple tablet. I'm expecting something that is magcally light which would follow something magically thin. Basically an iPod Touch looking iPad.

    tania wrote: »
    Will Tim Cook ever going to do anything about all this leaks? Is this the new Apple mandate, let everyone in on whatever new products they're working on? It seems to me they're having major security issues.

    Who says he hasn't "doubled down"?
  • Reply 16 of 38
    technotechno Posts: 737member


    I am having a hard time believing it. That first photo just does not look like a logical progression in design. It really looks like a move backward. I guess we will see.

  • Reply 17 of 38


    Tripled down on secrecy this time!


     


    Seriously, there has never been a year were apples products have been so thoroughly dissected BEFORE they were released. Gizmodo was nothing compared to this year.

  • Reply 18 of 38
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    dmarcoot wrote: »
    Tripled down on secrecy this time!

    Seriously, there has never been a year were apples products have been so thoroughly dissected BEFORE they were released. Gizmodo was nothing compared to this year.

    This has been showing not to be true on many occasions. In previous years we've even photos of the chips with the shields removed and we haven't any of that this year except for one with no markings.
  • Reply 19 of 38


    These leaks are coming from a Chinese website because these things are already being manufactured over in China. They are expected to be announced in October and will probably be ready for shipment by late October. These aren't pictures of the design phase. All of that takes place in Cupertino in Ives studio and no doubt this thing has existed in the walls of Apple for years. As we saw with the original iPad during the samsung trial was protoyped for years before it was released.


     


    To those questioning Tim Cook not keeping a lid on these products I would bet to say that if Jobs were still alive I doubt he could squash all of these leaks. Apple is the most profitable company ever, and anything that happens with potential new products everyone knows is going to be huge news and generate a ton of traffic to a site.

     

  • Reply 20 of 38
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Chairman Mao View Post


    Why is it all this leaks comes from China website? Hahahaha..........I thought the process would be at Apple California itself?



     


    Leaks comes from manufacturing plants where millions of parts are being made.  Apple employees usually dont want to leak and dont have access to large volume of spare parts.

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