Photos of a Tapered, MacBook Air-Inspired iPad 3 Form Factor Emerge

Take a look at the newest round of purported iPad 3 photos coming out of mainland China. Are you buying any of these as the real thing?

Leaked photos of Apple form factors have never really come to fruition. It is for that reason that the iPhone 5 News Blog has reserved any excitement over recent purported photos of the iPad 3 — particularly because they show very little change from the previous two iPads. A new comparison photo today, however, is worth noting, since it does reveal an interesting deviation in the shape of the iPad 3's form factor that, should it prove to be true, could affect the prevailing notion that the next iPad will have essentially the same form factor.

The photo above shows tapered, beveled edges on the corners of the iPad 3, as compared to the iPad 1 and iPad 2. It could be said that the nuanced changes in this form factor are slightly reminiscent to the MacBook Air’s lines.

In addition, the purported iPad 3 form factor also reveals something to us not seen in the earlier leaked photos: a larger camera sensor hole. Tech bloggers are suggesting that the larger sensor may mean an upgrade to an 8MP camera.

For me, however, the presence of the larger camera makes me suspicious of these photos.

Unfortunately, the imposition of a larger camera lens like that smacks of a Photoshopping job, since it is so easy to do with a white-backed iPad image. Of all the rumoring going on about the iPad 3, the rear-facing camera has not been a hot topic — it is the front-facing camera that many believe will get an upgrade. Given the size and application of the iPad, its rear-facing camera has not proven to be nearly as convenient or useful as the rear-facing camera on the iPhone. Therefore, the appearance of this sensor on this set of photos makes me believe that it may have been doctored (along with the sloping sides).

You will recall that similar issues have arisen in the past with purported leaked photos about the iPhone 5. Last September, we were treated to photos from the Foxconn plant that purported to show larger iPhone 5 screens with elongated home buttons. Prior to that, there were the iPhone 5 case images that showed cutouts for two camera flashes, and other doctored shots of the 3D iPhone 5 prototype.

Given this past, it is safe to assume that no one will be able to claim confirmed photos of the iPad 3 prior to release. And I am still holding out hope that Apple will do something aesthetically different with the iPad 3's form factor, since for me it’s starting to get a bit old.