Apple didn’t invent tablet computers when it launched theiPad in 2010 – but it did instantly make them popular devices, something which you couldn’t really describe them as before.
In fact the name iPad, laughed at to begin with for sounding like some kind of toiletry, is now more or less synonymous with tablets – much like iPod became to MP3 players.
Subsequent releases have stuck with the same basic design – it is after all a slab of metal with a touchscreen on one side.
There have been specification improvements with each iteration of course – and a number have been speculated on for the next model, what we can only reasonably presume will be called the iPad 5.
iPad 5 release date
iPad release dates are somewhat more erratic than iPhone ones – but you can more or less expect a new one once a year.
The iPad 4 was announced in October 2012 so we’ll more or less be due one by the time iOS7 is released in September, which is also when the next iPhone 6 or iPhone 5sis expected.
An Apple launch event has been confirmed for September 10th.

The iPhone 5S is expected to be the main reveal – since Apple will be due to launch a new flagship device then.

The colourful invitation comes with the tagline ‘this should brighten everyone’s day’ – which most have inferred means we’ll see a colourful model, maybe called the iPhone 5C unveiled as well. There could also be an iPad launch.

The event kicks off at 10am PT (US) and 6 pm (UK). Keep you’re dials tunes to PCR for all the news as it breaks.


iPad 5 specs
Android/Samsung/other phone firm fanboys have often lambasted Apple for not having NFC. The iPad 5 is rumoured to have it, however.
The tech allows you to transfer data between two devices by tapping them together. If it is to appear on the iPad 5, you’d expect it to swiftly appear on the latest versions of the iPhone and iPad Mini as well.
In terms of processor and storage sizes – probably you can expect a slightly more powerful former and not much change on the latter (there hasn’t been giant leaps in hard drive tech since the iPad 4, so 16GB, 32GB and 64GB seem likely).
You can certainly find more specific predictions on the web, but it seems fairly arbitrary to make them in a total information vacuum.
It’s more or less expected the iPad 5 will be a bit thinner and lighter than the iPad 4 – which makes sense. But it’s worth noting the iPad 4 was a tad porkier than the iPad 3.
According to some, perhaps questionable, photos the case will also be more ‘angular’, ditching the rounded corners we’ve seen previously.
Other pictures seem to imply an aluminium rear shell, and an apparently more svelte design.
There are also rumours the iPad 5 will have film-based panels, which are thinner and lighter, as seen on the iPad Mini.
iPad 5 iOS7
With iOS7 set for a September release, you can be about as certain as you can with anything to do with Apple that it will feature on the iPad 5.
The new operating system has been revamped by Johnny Ive – Apple’s design guru who helped mastermind a lot of the look of Apple’s hardware.
A lot of it will be a spruce up of the way it looks, but there are also new features expected such as an updated Siri.
iPad 5 inductive charging case?
Inductive charging smart covers could appear with the iPad 5 – according to this patent, which is a flip case armed with the wireless charging tech.
It’s unclear how such a thing would be used – whether it’s to charge the iPad itself from its stores (presumably you could charge both case and iPad and enjoy extra long battery life for a plane journey or what have you).
It could also be for popping an iPhone on, to charge your smaller gadgets from your larger.
Or both. Or neither.

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