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Next-gen iPad Air front panel with integrated display reportedly shown in leaked photos

OMT-ipad

New photos that reportedly show the front panel of a next-generation iPad Air have surfaced. Originally shared by One More Thing, the front panel appears to have an integrated display. This notable change could result in an even thinner iPad Air, or leave room for Apple to rework the hardware and add additional components.

According to One More Thing, these picture came from a “trusted Dutch source with connections in China.” The leaked photos arrive just days after a rumored iPhone 6 front panel surfaced. The iPad Air is already a very thin and sleek device, but thinner is better right?

There’s no way to tell if these are parts that legitimately belong to the next iPad Air. It’s definitely possible that they are just elaborate clones, but One More Thing seems to be confident in their source and has decent track record of reliable Apple rumors. We won’t know for sure until later this year when Apple’s next generation iPad Air is rumored to launch alongside a massive Q3 rollout.

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Comments

  1. charilaosmulder - 10 years ago

    I think it’s doubtful, the next gen iPad Air will probably have the same exterior design as the current one (save for Touch ID and maybe some visible camera improvements). But it’s no secret Apple is already working on slimmer components for the next iPad redesign, presumably 2 gens away from the current Air.

  2. thebums66 - 10 years ago

    I don’t know if those are new components but that looks more like a repair facility than a R&D or iPad assembly plant. I don’t think I would see a worker dressed in shorts and flip-flops.

    • rgbfoundry - 10 years ago

      The photos of the part are probably taking at a location away from where it was stolen. What you can see in the surroundings makes the location look like a Chinese retail space.

    • These components are new. If you look at current iPad air parts the LCD connection is much different and same with the digitizer connection. It seems like in the photo that the LCD connection is on the side on this component and the digitizer is at the bottom, that is switched from the current Air parts. I do however find it odd that Apple has them in two different places, on the iPhone models they have the digitizer and LCD connection next to each other if they are a part that is fused together.

  3. rgbfoundry - 10 years ago

    I’m sure it’s done to be thinner and that’s it. We’ll either get a bump in battery performance with the saved space, or a thinner less repairable iPad.

    • Mr. Grey (@mister_grey) - 10 years ago

      The number of iPhone consumers that actually care about “repairability” is arguably something like 0.001% (or perhaps even smaller). Out of the hundreds of millions of folks buying iOS devices, how many people would really buy something else because it’s “more repairable”? The whole idea is nonsense and only perpetuated by tech blogs.

      • Yep. It’s absurd. I have had an iPhone since day 2. Day 1 I was camping. I have never dropped an iPhone and sustained damage. I resell all my iPhones, except my original which I keep, at a very good price because they’re always in mint condition.

  4. Victor Moreno - 10 years ago

    I think it was time for it be available on ipad, as it on iphone. I think it’s a good update.. It looks like “we are touching the pixels, not a surface glass…”

  5. Lee (@leemahi) - 10 years ago

    These are Apple controlled leaks.

  6. drtyrell969 - 10 years ago

    This is like looking at porn of someone’s grandmother. STOP.

    • mockery17 - 10 years ago

      The only thing that needs to stop is you. Stop telling everyone on this site that you don’t have a brain.

  7. Oflife - 10 years ago

    “Front panel with integrated display”. Huh?