Ming-Chi Kuo, the usually accurate analyst at KGI Securities, expects Apple’s fifth-generation iPad to be a good deal smaller than the current generation, and he says it will include a GF2 touch panel, A7X processor, and other improvements over its ancestor.
In a note obtained by AppleInsider, Kuo notes that the next-gen iPad’s thinness and lightness will be its key attributes, which should be significant enough to move more units as compared to the current model. The analyst believes Apple’s third and fourth generation iPads didn’t sell as well as anticipated because they were both heavier and thicker than the iPad 2.
“We think the tablet will, at 7.5-8.0mm, be 15% thinner than iPad 4,” Kuo writes.
Kuo expects the slimness will be a result of the new GF3 screen technology, and the new screen tech will also result in reduced power consumption. Kuo sees the new iPad requiring less power, and expects to see a 25 to 30 percent reduction in the size of the battery, with cells reduced from three to two, and a 15 to 20 percent reduction in the thickness.
He also sees the new full-sized iPad resembling the smaller iPad mini, with thinner bezels and a more curved casing. His predictions are in line with recent leaks, one that is allegedly the iPad’s front cover glass, and the second said to be of cases built for the as yet unannounced tablet.
Internally, he sees a new A7-series System on a Chip, still being manufactured by Samsung using their 28 nanometer process. Camera specs should remain the same, carrying over the fourth-generation tablets 5-megapixel camera, and the front-facing FaceTime HD shooter.
Weight is expected to come in around 500 grams, the current-gen iPad weighs in at 650 grams.
Kuo sees production ramping up in July and August ahead of shipments in August or September.
The analyst also maintains an iPad mini 2 is set for release in the second half of 2013, and believes it will account for 60 to 65 percent of all iPad shipments. As for the larger iPad, Kuo expects shipments of 15 million units by year’s end.
