New thinner, lighter iPad 5 on the way in March?

Apple could be working on a fifth generation of its full-sized iPad that’s sexier than the version released last month.

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The news comes from Japanese news blog Macotakara, which indicates that the fifth-gen iPad will have a thinner, lightweight design — deducting 4mm from the height, 17mm from the width, and 2mm from the depth — and will get a March 2013 release date. The alleged new full-sized iPad will also borrow some design cues from the iPad mini, which means you’ll be able to choose between two different colors (white/silver or black/slate).

The March release date would be in line with the regular product life cycle that Apple had for the first three versions of its iPad. The fourth generation device featured a few hardware upgrades and swapped out the old 30-pin dock connector for the new smaller lightening connector, much to the dismay of early Apple device adopters. Apple has shown that the one-year product refresh isn’t a main concern for them, so it’s very possible that the report could prove true.

Macotakara also indicates that Apple could be working on a second generation iPad mini, with the big upgrade being a brand new retina display that would feature the 2,048 x 1,536 resolution of the current full-sized iPad.

Via 9to5Mac