Rumor has it that Apple will be releasing a faster and thinner iPad 5 early next year. Only two days back at the iPad Mini release event, Apple surprised us by releasing the new iPad 4. It does not come with any substantial changes, save for the fact that it has an A6X processor and the new Lightening dock connector.

Most iPad 3 owners are fuming over this development. Apple is known for its stringent release cycles. The company usually announces a new model of any product after one full year has passed. iPad 4 was launched only seven months after the third generation iPad. Wonder what kind of backlash would the company face from its customers if an iPad 5 is launched merely six months after the iPad 4?

Apple deviated from their release cycles this time around with the launch of iPad 4. With Tim Cook at the helm, the company is shifting from strategies that we have all been used to. Ex-CEO Steve Jobs used to despise 7 inch tablets and it was clear that under him Apple will never release such a product. Under him the company mostly stuck with the release cycles. Keeping in mind the substantial change at the top, we must now become aware of the fact that Apple is functioning in a different way than it used to.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities is of the view that Apple might release an iPad 5 in the first few months of 2013. This new iPad will be thinner and a lot faster than iPad 4. Substantial design changes can be expected along with a quadcore processor. Analysts' predictions don't always turn out to be true. Ming's point of view is based primarily on the fact that Apple may make this move in retaliation of Microsoft's Surface tablet, which may prove to be a worthy competitor for fourth generation iPad.

Apple isn't exactly a company that can be strong-armed in to changing the way how they do business. Nevertheless the release of iPad mini is testament to the fact that Apple finally realized what it was missed out on in the mid-range tablet market, largely dominated by the Amazon Kindle Fire. If the Surface turns out to be a success, then there definitely exists a possibility that Apple might release iPad 5 quite early next year.