'iPad Mini' Cases Accompanied by Sketchy Drawings

ThinkiOS reports (via 9to5Mac) that it has received a pair of drawings claimed to be of the "iPad mini" from a source in China.

The drawings are rather simplistic in nature, and several other inconsistencies make it difficult to believe that they are genuine drawings based on the actual design of the rumored product. The most glaring inconsistency is the aspect ratio of the display on the drawing, which we estimate at very close to 1.40. The iPad mini has been rumored to be adopting the same resolution as the non-Retina iPad, which uses an aspect ratio of 1.33.

Overall, the drawings show the size of the iPad mini at 200 mm by 135 mm, with a thickness of 7.3 mm. This compares to the 241 mm by 186 mm size of the current iPad models, with the third-generation iPad measuring 9.4 mm thick and the iPad 2 measuring 8.8 mm thick.

ThinkiOS claims that the iPad mini carries a 7-inch display, although our counting of the pixels when scaled to the stated measurement of the device yields a display of roughly 7.8 inches, closer to the 7.85-inch display that has been rumored for some time.

Earlier this week, another case maker's model of the rumored iPad mini surfaced, with pixel counts of the photos estimating the device's size at a slightly larger 213 mm by 143 mm.

Unlike the earlier photos, however, the new drawings surfacing today are accompanied by photos of cases that are actually being produced based on the design. The cases are being manufactured by Fullhull, a case company based in Shenzhen, China where Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn has major assembly facilities.

Case manufacturers have become increasingly willing to begin production on cases for rumored products based on speculation and leaks, hoping to benefit by being among the first to hit the market following the actual launch. But as was seen last year with the tapered iPhone design for which numerous cases were circulating, those bets do not always pay off.