New iPads not expected at September 10 iPhone launch event

While everyone is waiting for Apple to send invitations for its September 10 event where it's expected to announce the next generation iPhone and a low cost iPhone, the company is also rumoured to be working on the next iterations of the iPad and the iPad mini, its bestselling tablets.

However, a Bloomberg report which was majorly about Apple's plans to open an Apple store in Tokyo, also had a passing mention of the company releasing new version of its tablets at the much talked about September 10 event. This is not the first time it mentioned the possibility of Apple releasing new iPads in its reports. It had made a passing mention about new iPads in an earlier reportabout Samsung and Sony launching their new devices at the IFA.

While Bloomberg has now updated the article to remove mention of the new iPads, The Loop's Jim Dalrymple, who is well connected at Apple, and has a great track record of being accurate with Apple related rumours, also dismissed the rumoured categorically mentioning that there would be no new iPads at the September 10 event.

Interestingly, a previous report by Bloomberg suggested that Apple will release new iPad models, including an iPad with a thinner body design and an iPad mini with a high-resolution screen, later this year but not at the September 10 iPhone event. So it's surprising that it contradicted its own reports.

A number of rumours including a report by the credible Wall Street Journal, have suggested that Apple is modelling its next-generation iPad on the iPad mini in terms of design and form factor. The WSJ report suggested that the new iPad will feature the same touch-panel technology that's seen in the iPad mini, making it thin and light, and adds that Apple intends to use the film-based touch panel used in the iPad mini instead of the glass-based one that is sported by the full-sized iPad.

Recently, a video showing the front and back panel of the fifth-generation iPad assembled together, had appeared online showing a design different from the current generation iPad. Prior to that pictures of alleged back panels of the next-generation iPad and iPad mini had also appeared online on a website. The purported iPad rear casing was slightly smaller than the casing of the current generation iPad and the site mentioned that the distance between the border and screen of the iPad 5 was much shorter than the previous iPads, indicating that the new iPad would look similar to the iPad mini with smaller bezels. The casing had the Apple logo carved out and not just printed on it, in the images.

iPhone 5C, fifth-generation iPad and iPhone 5S parts spotted in fresh, separate leaks

While the purported low-cost iPhone (also referred to as the iPhone 5C) has made a number of online appearances, alleged pictures of the next generation iPad's rear shell surfaced last week.

Following up on the previous rumours, Apple focused Japanese website Mac Otakara has published(via Sonny Dickson) two new videos of partially assembled low cost iPhone (iPhone 5C) and next-generation iPad.

The first video shows the front and back panel of the fifth-generation iPad assembled together. Interestingly, unlike the back panel that appeared in leaked pictures, last week, this one shows a transparent or translucent Apple logo similar to the one seen on MacBooks. The leaked images featured a case that had the Apple logo carved out.

 

The second video shows a similar assembly of the back and front panels of the alleged low-cost iPhone or iPhone 5C. It shows the same White coloured plastic back panel that we've seen several times. It also reaffirms that the phone's front panel will be all black, similar to the image and video of the phone posted by Techdy in July.

 

New images featuring alleged iPhone 5S parts have also surfaced online courtesy Sonny Dickson. The parts include the nano-SIM tray and speaker button, flex cables for the home button, charger connector, Wi-Fi component, and speaker. However, there are no signs of a fingerprint scanner, support for which is said to be included in iOS 7.

As always, we'll add that the leaks should be taken with a pinch of salt as there's no way to verify the authenticity of the parts that appear in the video. Even if they're authentic, they could be from internal prototypes of these devices and not the final versions. 

Apple is expected to release the iPhone 5S, the next generation iPhone, along with the low-cost iPhone or iPhone 5C in fall with iOS 7. The new iPad and iPad mini are also expected to be released in the fourth-quarter.