Leaked: Pictures of New iPad Mini

Rumours of an ‘iPad Mini’ have been rife for some time now and as the unknown launch date nears, the leaks from industry sources get bigger and more credible. Steve Jobs didn’t want to make a smaller iPad, but it appears that the hot sales of small-sized tablet competitors like the Nexus have given them a change of heart.

Below is a picture of a couple of working iPad Minis, with an apparently 8 inch screen. They look a bit slimmer than the current iPad, having a thinner bezel on two sides. The Mini is expected to support 3G wireless and rumours suggest that the internals of the device will be similar to the iPad 2, plus it won’t sport the desirable high resolution Retina display.

The picture below shows the new style dock connector, incompatible with the wide range of docks currently on the market.

Apple will deliberately not be launching it at the same time as the new iPhone, dubbed ‘iPhone 5’, since the name hasn’t been confirmed. This is to prevent Apple’s own products from competing with themselves for attention, diluting the hype and hence reducing overall sales.

The new iPhone is expected to be announced on September 12 and the small iPad around October, according to anonymous industry sources. Also, Microsoft’s Surface tablets running Windows 8 and Windows RT will be launched on October 26, so no doubt Apple will want to spoil Microsoft’s party with their own gadget. We have more info on the iPad mini here.