Apple’s next-generation iPad Air, rumoured to hit the market shelves by this fall, isn’t expected to have any major makeover, keeping up with the true tradition, and the latest report from the Chinese shores, just confirms it.
Sina Weibo, a Chinese micro-blogging site, has published a set of leaked photos showcasing the purported rear shell of upcoming iPad Air 2, revealing some minor design tweaks.
The images, first spotted by the Nowhereelse.fr, show the rear cover of the upcoming device to have recessed volume buttons outlets, bigger speaker outlets, a microphone slot, that is reportedly moved next to the iSight camera, similar to the positioning on iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C.
The speaker grills are redesigned and is now a single row of holes in the bottom rear edge of the cover. The leaked images show a consistent design with a non-functional replica with a slightly slimmer profile of just 6.2mm, compared to the 7.5mm thin iPad Air.
Apple Insider reports, highlighting the metal rear shell leaked to be almost identical with the dummy model surfaced earlier, that the iPad Air 2 will pack Touch ID fingerprint scanner. The latest images suggest that there is no room for “mute/orientation lock” toggle switch in the next iteration of iPad Air. There is a small hole spotted above the volume buttons, which remains to be a mystery.
iPad Air 2 is speculated to sport a 9.7-inch Retina LCD display with a resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 pixels and come with an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 5-megapixel camera and a faster A8 processor to improve the performance. The upcoming tablet is also expected to have the iOS 8’s split-screen functionality.
