There have been many leaks showing that the iPad 5 will have a similar design to the iPad mini, we reported on the leaked iPad 5 rear shell pretty much confirming its redesign. We pretty much knew it would be thinner and lighter than the iPad 4, but new information gives more details on what to expect and when regarding the upcoming iPad 5.
Digitimes is reporting that Apple will begin a trial production of the iPad 5 very soon, will ramp up volume production in July, and will have monthly shipments of the iPad 5 hitting around 2 to 3 million units per month in September.
The site is also reporting that the iPad 5 will ship with the same 2,048 x 1,536 Retina Display as the iPad 4, but the new display is built on a 0.2mm glass substrate compared to the 0.25mm used in the iPad 4. Apple will reportedly use a new touch panel in the iPad 5 that uses one layer of glass and two layers of ITO film. The source also claims that the iPad 5 will use one LED backlight compared to the two used on the iPad 4. LG, Samsung, and Sharp will reportedly be the suppliers of the iPad 5's display.
The site concludes previous rumors that the iPad 5 will be 25 to 33 percent lighter than the iPad 4 due to the redesigned case and the new display technology Apple is expected to use. The source also claims that the iPad 5 could go on sale as early as September.
It's not clear if Apple is going to follow its last cycle of announcing the new iPhone in September and holding a separate event in October for the iPad. We'll have to wait and see. As always, nothing is official until Tim Cook takes the stage.
