Get ready for revolutionary iPad 5 and iPhone 5S

Apple's new products in the ‘making' has always been a closely guarded secret, the company often prides that its new product ideas never spills out of the corridors of its famed HQ in Cupertino. But, Apple snoopers somehow smell it and expose new Apple product form factors well before its launch.

This time around, going by the rumor mills- the 5th generation iPad would be a cross between iPad Mini and the 4th gen iPad model. Going by a report in ilounge.com, the editor of the site Jermy Horwitz writes, "Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to inspect a supposedly accurate and seriously intriguing physical model of the completely redesigned fifth-generation iPad. It's a lot smaller than one would guess was possible: in portrait orientation, picture a 9.7 inch screen with virtually no left or right bezels, and only enough space above and below the screen to accommodate the mandatory camera and ‘home button elements'. Beyond that, it's noticeably thinner, as well, which is to say the fifth-generation iPad will be smaller in every dimension than its predecessors. As it will have the same chamfered edges and curves, It is a ‘stretched iPad mini'.

Horwitz also asks a critical question: "How will Apple accomplish this?"

While it's yet to be known on how Horwitz accessed the iPad 5 prototype, but increasingly it is getting certain that Apple will use a different display technology and not ‘Retina Display'. As per reports, Apple will go for a revolutionary new display called IGZO. Writes John Paczkowsk, in AllThingsD blog: "Sources close to Apple tell us that the company has been evaluating IGZO displays for use in its iOS devices, though they declined to say what the results of that evaluation have been"

What is IGZO: It stands for - ‘Indium gallium zinc oxide'. It is a semiconducting material, jointly developed by Sharp Corporation and Semiconductor Energy Laboratories. The transistors used in IGZO displays are much smaller and it can offer much higher resolution as compared to conventional displays. While IGZO based displays have been demonstrated in large screen TVs, experts say its biggest impact area would be in the realm of smartphones and tablets - and it has the potential to bump off Apple's ‘Retina Display'.

Coming to Apple, with Retina Display, Apple was forced to make the iPads a tad thicker from the 3rd gen model as compared to iPad 2. Also in terms of thermal engineering, it's difficult to manage heat if the resolution goes up. So ideally the biggest USP for Apple in iPad 5 would be an iPad 2 like thinness, and a display of 4th gen iPad and other innovations - and this can be achieved only by using a tech like IGZO.

Meanwhile on the iPhone 5S, Horwitz mentions that, "The iPhone 5S will apparently look very much like the iPhone 5, but with a larger rear flash, and is indeed coming this year. Also planned for a 2013 release is Apple's "low-cost" plastic-bodied iPhone, which is being developed with ‘China Mobile' in mind"

Other reports on the internet also say that Apple will launch a low cost iPhone specifically for China and in time it will be broad-based to other lucrative markets like India.

 

Going by the current rumors, Apple will announce something big by end of Q1 2013 and will set the ball rolling for larger launches in Q2 of this year. Looking at the recent developments, Apple's future launches, like its previous ones will be centered on revolutionary displays and it will continue to experiment on ‘display' and ‘slimness'. In the bargain users will get some amazing devices- probably not seen before.