Apple’s iPad 5 redesign shown clearly alongside iPad 4 in high quality snaps

With Apple’s new iPhones now official and almost ready to buy, we have to start wondering about other products which should make it out before the end of the year as part of Apple’s annual refresh program. We’re talking iPads, iPods and Apple TV.

The iPad 5 has been spotted in numerous guises recently and if nothing else, we’re certain the design will be changed in a big way to reflect the look of the more recent iPad Mini. This means the new iPad will be thinner, feature more flattened edges rather than steep curves and will generally have a more square profile.

Numerous images of case parts and other bits and bobs from the new model have surfaced previously but now we’ve been treated to a number of high quality snaps. These images not only reveal the iPad 5’s new design but also show how much it differs from the current iPad 4, which is also pictured. The source is ext 9to5mac writer Sonny Dickson, who last year leaked the iPad Mini and more recently the iPhone 5C in all its colourful glory.

It looks as though Apple will be ditching the old style iPad casing in favour of this new style going forward, particularly as it matches up with the latest iPhone and iPod Touch models as well. Similar traits include the drilled speaker holes on the bottom edge flanking the Lightning connection and the rounded edges and corners.

The new iPad is expected to be revealed late next month, a year on from the iPad 4 and Mini’s respective launches. We’re also expecting to see a second generation iPad Mini at the same event; a product which is likely to steal the show thanks to the likely Retina display upgrade to the screen. Both will naturally come running Apple’s latest iOS 7 software.