Production Of Fifth-Generation iPad To Begin In July-August, Say Sources

If you’re Jonesing for a fifth-generation iPad, you may have to wait a little longer than you had hoped.

Digitimes’ Max Wang and Joseph Tsai report that according to their insider sources with Taiwan-based supply chain makers, volume production of the fifth-generation 9.7-inch iPad will kick off sometime in July-August 2013, which if the scuttlebutt is correct would point to a late summer (September) or fall release. They note that there’s some ambiguity at this point regarding yield rates for key components, especially touch panels, will be a major concern for smooth production.

Wang and Tsai’s sources say the new iPad will be thinner and lighter than the fourth-generation model, and will adopt a slim bezel design, similar to that of the iPad mini.

The current fourth-generation iPad was released along with its more diminutive iPad mini stablemate on October 26, 2012, so a fall rollout of the iPad 5 (and iPad mini 2?) would return to the roughly one-year iPad release cycle that prevailed before last Fall, albeit at a different point on the calendar.

A major revamp of the MacBook lines is also rumored to be in the works, as well as an iPhone 5S, and Apple will likely want to unveil something in the hardware line at the World Wide Developers Conference in June, but it doesn’t sound like it will be an iPad 5.

For the full report, visit here:
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20130409PD212.html

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