Front panel allegedly for the iPad 5 leaks in photos

Leak after leak, we're getting more and more convinced that the next full-sized iPad model will look a lot like a larger iPad mini. Last week we took a look at what's probably the rear housing of the iPad 5, and now we're presented with a front panel, supposedly made for the very same tablet. The component is said to be large enough to accommodate a 9.7-inch screen, which is the standard for an iPad screen size, yet exhibits a bezel that is narrower than the one on previous iPad variants of this caliber. 

According to the supplier of the component, this is indeed a genuine screen digitizer made for the "iPad 5 (2013)". It gets its touch-sensitive properties thanks to the same indium tin oxide tech found on the iPad mini. What's new compared to the digitizers of previous iPads is that there are now two connectors instead of one. Their type has been changed as well from being flat flexible cables to flexible printed circuits, the kind of which are found on iPhone 5 components. 

Whether that is really an iPad 5 component or not is something we can't confirm, of course. Whether the new 9.7-inch iPad will really adopt its design features from the smaller iPad mini will be known once the tablet is official.

source: MacFixit via 9to5Mac