Rumors have been buzzing about a possible second-gen iPad mini with a Retina display to be released later this year. Now more fuel has been added to the fire, as new images have surfaced on Chinese micro-blogging site WeiPhone, showing what appear to be back shells for Apple’s next-gen iPad mini.
The shells seem slightly thicker than the casing for the current iPad mini, which lends credence to rumors that the device might be equipped with a Retina display – just like the 3rd-gen iPad became thicker when Apple added a Retina display to their full-sized tablet. Thickness aside, the casings appear very similar to the current-gen iPad mini.
As for the bright blue Apple logo, MacRumors suggests that this may be “simply part of the process used to create the mirrored logo and text as seen on the current product.” As always, it’s unclear whether these are legitimate – but as MacRumors notes, several of the photos include boxes bearing the “Catcher” label. Catcher is one of Apple’s primary casing suppliers, suggesting that these images may indeed be legit. Whether they are prototypes or a final design is more difficult to determine.
