Another iPad 5 front panel leaks (update: debunked)

iPad 5 (front panel, Apple.pro 001)

A new image has popped up on a reliable Chinese web site, showing what appears to be a front panel for Apple’s upcoming fifth-generation iPad. Matching up previous leaks, the part features skinnier side bezels that Apple first tried on the iPad mini. The part has holes for the FaceTime front camera and the Home button in the same position as the iPad mini’s bezel, along with the touchscreen connector.

Update: as pointed out by the French blog NowhereElse.fr, the image depicts an iPad mini digitizer. Move along folks, nothing to see here…

The image was published by the Chinese web site Apple.pro, which over years has proved its credibility by leaking genuine parts and information about unreleased Apple products.

Apple’s next full-size iPad is expected to retain the same 9.7-inch display, encased in a housing said to be narrower, with slightly reduced height.

The leaked image arrives just as the reliable Vietnamese publication Tinhte.vn yesterday posted a purported iPad 5 case video (see the image below) that gave us a first glimpse of the iPad 5’s dimensions.

iPad 5 case video

The slightly smaller device dimensions could stem from the narrower side bezels and Apple’s iOS multitouch optimizations which disregard spray input from one’s thumb resting on the screen when holding the device.

According to the reliable Apple blogger Jim Darlymple, there will be no iPhones or iPads at the upcoming WWDC, which is now less than two weeks away.

Apple’s media release announcing the conference indeed confirms its registered developers will “get new versions of iOS and OS X” at WWDC, with Apple’s boss Tim Cook confirming earlier this week that “Jony Ive is working on” a significant iOS 7 overhaul.