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Manufacturing Mold for 'iPad Pro' Rear Shell or Dummy Unit Shown in New Photo

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A user on China's Weibo microblogging site today posted a new photo (via Letem svetem Applem) simply labeled "iPad Pro". The photo shows what appears to be a mold for the rear shell of Apple's rumored larger tablet with a display in the range of 12-13 inches, although it is unclear whether this mold is supposed to be for an actual iPad Pro shell or for a dummy unit such as the one that surfaced in a photo last May.

ipad_pro_shell_mold.jpg
Few details can be discerned from the relatively poor quality photo, although it does appear to show faint details that could represent an Apple logo in the center and perhaps a rear camera feature in a corner. Exact size is also unknown, but it certainly appears larger than an iPad Air.

The relatively simple design of the mold suggests this may be an unofficial mold being used create dummy units for manufacturers. Such units frequently, but not always, turn out to be accurately based on information leaking out of Apple's supply chain.

Timing on a release for the iPad Pro has been in question for some time, with The Wall Street Journal reporting last October that Apple had pushed back production on the device in order to allow its suppliers to focus on the popular iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Reports have indicated the device could still launch in the April-June timeframe, but there have yet to be any apparently legitimate part leaks for the device.

Article Link: Manufacturing Mold for 'iPad Pro' Rear Shell or Dummy Unit Shown in New Photo
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/01/08/ipad-pro-mold-shell-dummy/
If only digital camera technology could improve beyond 640x480.
 
I mean, it's interesting, but with no scale how can you be certain it isn't a 9.7" mold?
 
A picture of the parking lot of the factory that manufactures the new iPad would be more exciting (and useful).
 
Aren't these metal bodies on iPads, MacBooks, etc. machined?

How do you create a metal body with a mould?
 
So, the workers there are so famished and weak that they need a forklift to carry a mold? Besides, it looks like the image of the mold is superimposed onto the background.

My theory is that Apple will at some point make thick and sturdy devices and brag that they are more robust than the thin Samsungs. So, these are not molds but the actual iPad!
 
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1. Aren't the casings CNC machined, not moulded?
2. There's what looks like a hinge on the left side: if anything it looks more like a laptop casing than an iPad shell to me.
 
Yeah sure. That's one of these fancy mold that are used for aluminium injetion moulding. And it even comes with a notch for a hinge.

The user should have labeled the photo with "bottom of 12 inch generic plastic laptop"
 
milking it.

i have no desire for another ipad, let alone an 'ipad pro'.
i mean realistically what 'pro things' can an ipad pro do that a 13" macbook pro can't do better?

or are they using MS's definition of Surface 'Pro'..

milking it. not really filling in a need anywhere.
 
teknikal90 said:
milking it.

i have no desire for another ipad, let alone an 'ipad pro'.
i mean realistically what 'pro things' can an ipad pro do that a 13" macbook pro can't do better?

or are they using MS's definition of Surface 'Pro'..

milking it. not really filling in a need anywhere.
Click to expand...

^ lines up to buy it :p
 
Yeah, this seems fake if not very useless in showing the iPad Pro. Even if it is real, what does this show?
 
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