iPad 5 Rumoured to be up to 33% Lighter than Current Model

Citing Taiwanese supply chain sources, Digitimes reports that Apple is preparing for the trial production of the iPad 5, with volume production to start in July, reaching 2–3 million units per month in shipments until September.

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As previous rumours have already highlighted, the fifth-generation iPad will be thinner and lighter than the currently available iPad 4, carrying design elements from the iPad mini. Now, Digitimes’s sources put that change into numbers: they claim the iPad 5 will be 25%33% lighter than the current model.

The display of the new iPad, which will hit market shelves as early as September, will still be a 2,048 x 1,536 Retina display, the same as the one used in the 4th-generation model, except that the new display is built on a glass substrate of 0.2mm, thinner than the 0.25mm one for the 4th-generation device, the sources said, adding the new table will has a narrow bezel.

The touch panel solution for 5th-generation iPad is GF2 (1 layer of glass and two layers of ITO film) instead of G/G bonding used in 4th-generation iPad, the sources added.

The new iPad will use one LED light bar for backlighting, compared to two LED light bars used in 4th-generation iPad, the sources noted.

The 5th-generation iPad is estimated to be 25-33% lighter than the 4th-generation one, the sources indicated.

Completing an April report, supply chain sources say the display of the iPad 5 will be provided by LG Display, Sharp and Samsung Display.

Back in January, iLounge’s Editor-in-Chief, Jeremy Horwitz has shared his thoughts about the iPad 5 after holding a “supposedly accurate and seriously intriguing” mockup of the completely redesigned tablet.

He spread the rumours of the iPad mini-like design — especially regarding the left and right bezels. Since then, we have seen a couple of examples of alleged iPad 5 front bezels and cover glass, as well as the device’s rear shell and a couple cases, all of which seeming to reinforce an iPad-mini-like design.

It remains to be seen whether earlier rumours of more efficient backlighting will materialize at the launch of the anticipated full-sized tablet.

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