We’ve seen iPhone leak after rumor after leak after rumor throughout much of 2012 and while the iPad mini was always a possibility, the rumors were sporadic and rarely substantial — until now, that is. Ahead of the launch in September or October, finally the iPad mini leaks are starting to appear. This one happens to be from Nowhereelse.fr, the French website that also posted last week about a small 8-pin dock connector on the next-generation iPhone.
The parts shown in the image above appear to be for the small dock connector, home button, and headphone jack. Kyle Wiens of iFixit, the website that typically rips apart gadgets and gazes in awe at their insides, weighed on in the parts. He says they do look like legitimate Apple parts judging by the consistency in design, but he is unable to confirm their authenticity.
The headphone jack part, however, is curiously located on the bottom next to the connector. On all three of the current iPad models, the headphone jack is on the top of the device and the leaked iPad mini cases and mockups also have cut-outs for a headphone jack on the top.
At least we’re finally starting to see the iPad mini rumors pile on. John Gruber of Daring Fireball, whose analyses have great track records, wrote yesterday that because of the comparably small amount of supply chain leaks for the iPad mini, he believes that the iPhone is further along in the production process and that the iPad mini will likely release later in the year.