7″ iPad rumors surface again

Ever since the Amazon Kindle Fire, many had expected Apple to respond in kind with a similar smaller, and cheaper iPad. This has sparked rumors that Apple could be launching an iPad mini which is essentially a 7” version of the iPad. This is despite comments by Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs who felt that a 7” iPad was too small for apps to be displayed properly. Well it seems that there are still 7” iPad hopefuls as a new report has emerged courtesy of Ezra Gottheil, an analyst at Technology Business Research.

“I believe that’s always been in the plan” Gottheil said. “Actually that’s a good form factor for some users, and although they will also charge a premium above other similar-sized tablets, they want to protect that price flank.”

Gottheil seems to believe that Apple will be launching two new products alongside the iPad 3, one of which is a casing that will feature an integrated keyboard, and the other will be the 7” iPad. While we can’t really confirm anything for now, we remain highly skeptical that Apple will be launching such an iPad, but we’ll see come March which is when the iPad 3 is rumored to see a launch.