Rumors and Speculations Over Launch Date of iPad 52 min read

Late last December, Apple, Inc. unveiled their Mini iPad, much to the joy of tweener tablet lovers everywhere. Now, fast forward to the present day, and you have rumors circulating around the web regarding the anticipated release of the fifth generation iPad 5. Analysts have been predicting (since late December of last year) that Apple would release a more powerful, thinner iPad 5 model sometime during 2013. Here are the rumors we’ve been able to gather thus far.

Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst for KGI Securities, said that Apple is embroiled in a bitter battle between competitor and rival, Microsoft, and is trying to best the popular Surface tablet. He predicts that the new iPad 5 will launch with a brilliant 9.5 inch screen to better compete with other, newer Windows and Android powered tablets.

“Though the iPad mini is expected to be successful, we think launching the lighter, thinner 9.7-inch iPad as quickly as possible matters more for Apple strategically,” Kuo wrote in a recent report.

Last November, DigiTimes speculated that Apple would launch this new iPad sometime during the middle of this year. Some pegged the date at late March, but with only a few days that remain in this month, that’s very unlikely.

In late January of this year, iLounge editor-in-chief Jeremy Horwitz, made claims that he had seen the iPad 5 up and close with his own eyes. He said that this new model wouldn’t be available to consumers until October of this year.

A late February report by Apple Insider adds more to the notion that spring is the season for updates and autumn is the season for new Apple product releases, further postulating Horwitz’s claim.

“Over the past two years, the spring event has been iPad updates,” the report said.

When do you think the new iPad 5 will be launched: Spring or Autumn?