Today, a Chinese site by the name of Bolopad claims that the above images they publicized are of a legitimate iPad Mini – speculated to be announced at some sort of media event next month.
Based on the recent physical mockups of the rumored iPad Mini, leaked parts for the still-theoretical device and the legitimacy of the recent iPhone 5 leaks, it’s likely that the above images are, at the very least, a prototype of the iPad mini. Everything from the name of Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone to the obscure two-tone unibody back and vertically enhanced screen were proven to be accurate during last week’s iPhone 5 unveiling event.
With the plethora of leaks pertaining to the iPhone 5, and now additional iPad Mini leaks, is it possible that they’re intentionally being seeded by Apple themselves as some form of marketing strategy? It’s definitely possible! After all, the iPhone 5 has shattered all previous sales records for the company.
Curiously enough, the above iPad Mini appears to be running iOS 5, as the Maps icon isn’t reminiscent of the new icon used for Apple’s own in-house mapping solution that’s intended to replace Google maps.
If this were a recent prototype device, it would undoubtedly be running iOS 6. Is it possible that this device was created prior to iOS 6? If so, this may indicate that Apple has been testing their new iDevice Lightning connector for quite some time. Stay tuned for additional coverage on Apple and the highly-rumored iPad Mini.
