Previously, there were news reports from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, where both parties claimed that Apple of Cupertino is already working on a new iPad, which will obviously come in a smaller form factor – something that Apple never considered previously. We are talking about 7.85″ of touchscreen goodness, where it is tipped to arrive before our calendars flip over to the year 2013, not to mention that it will be more affordable compared to the $499 iPad that is currently on the market. The image that you see above hails from GottaBeMobile, and is touted to be that of an engineering sample of the iPad mini, which will come with a re-arranged speaker assembly which is accompanied by a more diminutive 19-pin dock connector that was seen earlier on in a next-generation iPhone part.
How do you think a smaller iPad would fare in the smaller screen display segment of the market? I always thought that Apple figured out a 7″ form factor does not work, which could be why they decided to be different and settle for 7.85″ instead? Only time will tell, and we look forward to it with bated breath.
