Analysts: the next generation of 9.7 inch iPad will be thinner and lighter

According to analysis of KGI Securities analyst Ming - Chi Kuo, the next generation of 9.7" iPad tablet will learn from the design of iPad mini. He said the fifth generation iPad will get a big breakthrough in weight and thickness, compared to the New iPad and iPad 4. In addition, he also said iPad 5 will adopt the edge-to-edge design, similar to iPad mini. And because the border is getting narrower, the unconscious palm touch to the edge of the tablet will be ignored automatically by the device to avoid mis-operating, just like that of iPad mini.

Kuo also predicted that Apple may release the next 9.7" iPad tablet in the third quarter of 2013. This seems to be different from the recent rumors that a lot of people think iPad 5 will appear in March, and iPad 4, just six months after the current generation of iPhone, meeting the product update rule exactly.

Last year, Kuo has accurate prediction on the new iPad device release in the end of 2012. At that time, the prediction seemed to be very incredible, because Apple just released the new iPad in March and previously Apple never had a precedent to release two generations of a product in a year. But in October, Apple really released fourth generation of iPad with Lightning interface and A6X processor, which really surprised the world.

Kuo also suggested that Apple will release a new iPad mini with the Retina Display screen, with screen resolution up to 2048 x1536, just like the 9.7" tablet, which no doubt would bring higher pixel density. This would improve compatibility of third party.

Another piece of news suggested that Apple may release this year a TV product, while Kuo didn’t think so. In his view, the new product list of this quarter will also include Apple TV set-top box. But for the Apple HD TV, according to his prediction, we may still need to wait at least until 2014.