Purported Physical Model of 'iPad Mini' Surfaces

Just after posting photos of a purported metal engineering sample of the next-generation iPhone's massing, Gotta Be Mobile has now posted photos of a similar physical model of the "iPad mini".

The model appears to be a case maker's mold that shows the basic shape of the device, so it is unknown whether it accurately reflects the device's form factor. While case designs have proven accurate a number of times in the past, a significant number of case makers were fooled into designing for a tapered iPhone design last year that did not come to fruition.

According to the report, a pixel count on the photos suggests that the iPad mini will measure approximately 213 mm by 143 mm and be slightly thinner than the full-size iPad.

What we’ve found, using a pixel count, is that the iPad Mini should be around 213.36mm tall and about 143.67mm wide. This is approximately two-thirds of the size of the new third-generation iPad. The new iPad is 185.67mm wide, 241.3mm tall, and 9.39mm thick.

Google’s Nexus 7 tablet has a width of 120mm which means that the iPad Mini, if our calculations are close, might be around 23.67mm wider than the Nexus 7. The Nexus 7 tablet measures in at 198.5mm high which means that the iPad Mini may be a little taller than Google’s 7-inch tablet.

The mockup also includes a smaller dock connector as has been rumored by a number of sources, as well as two speaker grilles along the bottom edge of the device.