[NewsPoster]

A Taiwanese accessory maker, Yi Lin Enterprises, has posted photos online showing what's claimed to be a rear shell for the second-generation iPad Air. While mostly similar to the current Air, the shell's speaker grilles have been modified to use a single row of larger holes, and the rear microphone port has been placed next to the iSight camera. The part appears to be for a space gray model.

The redesigned grille is consistent with earlier leaks. Apple will likely update the iPad lineup this October; both the Air and the Mini are expected to get relatively minor improvements however, such as A8 processors, Touch ID sensors, and slight changes to weight and size. The emphasis at an October press event will instead probably be on the iWatch.

[FastiBook]

It saddens me that so many leaks have gotten out since 2010.

[Jeronimo2000]

@FastiBook: well, Apple has grown a lot since 2010, so many more people are involved in the production ramp-up of any given product. More people involved = more potential leakers. Easy as that.

[Spheric Harlot]

Yep. Building 250 million devices a year involves a rather larger number of people than building 10 million.

[DiabloConQueso]

Get out of here with your logic and reason. How are we supposed to infer that this is all due to the fact that Steve Jobs is no longer around when you come in here with "facts" and "reality" and similar things that derail my arguments?!

[Grendelmon]

Who cares, though? They're just re-hashing the same type of product. It's not like the late 90s and early 2000s where people were truly mesmerized by the "there's one more thing" announcements. They can leak all they want, I don't think that many people care anymore.

[Charles Martin]

I think the level of interest in leaks wanes when its something like a simple refresh; everybody already knows the next iPad, for example, will be similar to the previous one but better in certain ways.

There's a much higher level of interest when the product in question is going to get a significant revamp, though. And Apple still manages to surprise us periodically, such as with the new Mac Pro, so I think they obsess about leaks a lot less and focus security more on the things that are more important to keep secret.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Grendelmon 

Who cares, though? They're just re-hashing the same type of product. It's not like the late 90s and early 2000s where people were truly mesmerized by the "there's one more thing" announcements. They can leak all they want, I don't think that many people care anymore.

There were only a small handful such products during that time. The years in between were all about iteration.

Have you missed the buzz about a supposed "iWatch"?

[Grendelmon]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

There were only a small handful such products during that time. The years in between were all about iteration.

Have you missed the buzz about a supposed "iWatch"?

This is true. And the iWatch does sound interesting, but as I get older I suppose that I don't contain the enthusiasm as I once did about "leaked" information regarding Apple's products; especially the next-gen iterations. I guess I don't understand why people would jeopardize their jobs leaking information on insignificant product iterations.

[Jeronimo2000]

Originally Posted by DiabloConQueso 

Get out of here with your logic and reason. How are we supposed to infer that this is all due to the fact that Steve Jobs is no longer around when you come in here with "facts" and "reality" and similar things that derail my arguments?!

At first I did think that this was exactly the point the original poster wanted to make. But since he (or she) for some reason chose 2010 as the year the leaks started increasing (and not precisely early October 2011), I decided not to suspect the usual "Everything was better under Steve" mantra as the reason for the original post.