[NewsPoster]

A Vietnamese website has produced photos of what appears to be a fully-assembled dummy model of the second-generation iPad Air. The tablet is said to be just 7mm thick, making it even thinner than the iPhone 6 Plus -- which is rated at 7.1mm -- and marginally thicker than the 6.9mm iPhone 6. In contrast, the current Air measures 7.5mm.

The tablet otherwise features an expected Touch ID sensor, and may back a recent rumor that Apple is sacrificing the mute/rotation lock switch to make the Air as thin as possible. It's uncertain whether the depicted hardware is a final design or not, particularly since Tinhte.vn says it couldn't turn the iPad on, and the rear finish isn't complete.

Apple is widely anticipated to launch announce new iPads later this month, possibly on the 16th or the 20th. The Air should also get an A8 processor, and may upgrade from 1 to 2GB of RAM among other changes.

[Gazoobee]

Ugh! There is no way in hell I would buy that thing.

All they have done is add TouchID and then remove the rotation lock toggle. What is Apple thinking? This is such a stupid, stupid move. That switch is absolutely essential. The iPad is an annoying piece of poo without it.

[Spheric Harlot]

I agree that removing the rotation lock is annoying. I use it all the time.

Beyond that, it sounds a bit like you expected them to revise the design...how?

[DiabloConQueso]

Rotation lock? Haha! Only amateurs use it for rotation lock. Real tablet users have always known it's a mute switch.

[Gazoobee]

@Spheric: Well I was hoping for *some* design change, and there appears to be none other than the rumoured missing toggle. Reducing the side bezels by half would be a good thing. Rounding it off like the new iPhone 6 would be more a superficial change than anything else, but that plus the TouchID might be enough to make me buy a new one.

As it is now, the only solid, new feature is the TouchID which is nice, but hardly essential or enough to make me plunk down another $700 this year. As I said previously as well, the lack of the toggle is a non-starter. It's possible they have come up with some other way to control the rotation, but control over the rotation is essential to the operation of the device IMO, and I think many customers would agree (the foolish DiabloDonQueso excluded of course).

[TheMacOracle]

Only 7 mm thick? I'll bet it will bend if you sit on it!! ;-)

[DiabloConQueso]

Rotation lock is still available with a single-swipe up from the bottom of the screen (both locked and unlocked), just as it is today on current iOS devices with iOS 7 and 8.

It's probably a minor inconvenience for some, but I have high hopes that they'll be able to continue productively working and playing on their iPads just fine without letting their rage at this obvious atrocity and overt attempt and destrying everything that made the iPad Good and Holy get the best of them.

By the way, it's a mute switch. We're not heathens... sheesh.

[Spheric Harlot]

I have that tool drawer deactivated everywhere except on the home screens, as I HATE inadvertently triggering it when using an app.

Mute is a single press-hold on the lower volume button.

Rotation lock has no shortcut.

[DiabloConQueso]

So we're saying it's a total deal-killer, then?

[Spheric Harlot]

No. I'm saying it's a bit of an annoyance, if true.

It will be a monster of an upgrade over my iPad 2, and a pretty good one over the iPad 4 I'm currently borrowing for work (which I find way too heavy).

[David S.]

It's seems unlikely that a reduction in thickness of a tiny 0.5mm would be enough to prevent the inclusion of the lock rotation/mute switch.Seems more likely they just wanted to reduce the number of buttons and switches and figure most users don't even understand what the switch does let alone use it.

I very rarely use the switch (which I've set to lock/unlock screen rotation) so it will be at most a minor issue now that Control Center is available. But Touch ID, now that's huge. That's a feature everyone wants on every device they own once they try it. It's a great pity Apple were unable to include it on last year's iPads, if they had then I doubt their sales would have dropped like they did recently. Touch ID is a the kind of revolutionary feature ordinary users can see the value of immediately, one that removes a real pain point. I held off buying an iPad Air last year mainly because they didn't have Touch ID, but I'm buying an Air 2 this year for sure (assuming it does of course).