Pictures allegedly show back panel to next-generation Apple iPad

A few days ago, some hot rumors warmed up a cool afternoon. One of the rumors said that the fifth generation Apple iPad, known as "J72," would launch in October along with the next version of the Apple iPad mini. Now that we have a rumored launch month, Monday night brought along pictures of what is claimed to be the back cover for the fifth-generation Apple iPad. With speculation that the overall design of the next full sized Apple tablet would be similar to the Apple iPad mini, it does make sense to this leaked back cover for the 9.7 inch slate, be nearly as thin as the back cover for Apple's 7.9 inch tablet. At the top of the larger cover, you will see the black antenna cut which hints at LTE connectivity for whichever model that prototype back cover is from.

The fifth-generation Apple iPad might play an important role in iOS history. As we pointed out on Sunday, a source is spreading the word that the tablet will be offered in a 128GB variant, the first time we've seen that much native storage from an iOS device. Considering the lack of a microSD slot on the iPad, power users should be happy to have this option. If Apple codes the amount of storage on its mobile devices as GOOD, BETTER and BEST, the ULTIMATE that will purportedly be available for the new iPad SKU would certainly suggest a 128GB version of the tablet. The only problem with this theory is that the source of this story says that the next full sized Apple tablet will have no design change compared to the fourth-generation tablet already out. That would seem to go against the existence of a thinner back panel.

There could be a logical answer. Earlier speculation called for the next full sized iPad to launch in March. Perhaps that is when we will see a "Refresh" version of the fourth-generation Apple iPad with 128GB storage with the newly-designed, thinner version of the fifth-generation Apple iPad to launch in October.

source: 9to5Mac via GSMArena