Apple iPad Mini Photos Leaked

You might be looking at a real prototype of Apple's next tablet.

Just one day before Apple's scheduled iPhone 5 event, alleged photos of an iPad Mini have popped up on the Internet. And they're pretty convincing.

Click on any of the photos to the right to open a larger version. The second photo shows a side-by-side with a different hand holding a Samsung Galaxy Note phablet for comparison.

If the pictures are actually of an iPad Mini, then it pretty much confirms everything we've believed up to this point, such as it being roughly the size of a Kindle Fire (perhaps a little wider), with Apple's newer, smaller dock connector. If they're not--this is the best fake we've seen in a while.

While it's interesting that the photos would leak just a day ahead of the iPhone 5 event, it's worth remembering that many reports point to an October reveal for the tablet. This is in order to keep full attention focused on what is arguably the most important device in Apple's product line, and save a spot for its iPad Mini to be announced just in time for the holidays, effectively giving Apple two hot items to sell during gift-giving season.

If anything, the iPad Mini is admission by Apple that there is a market for smaller-size tablets. Amazon helped prove this with its offerings. If Apple can keep the Mini at a desirable price, it's easy for it to target that same market that invests in e-reader-focused tablets a la Nook Color and Kindle Fire.

Hat tip to VentureBeat MobileBeat, itself taking the images from nowhereelse.fr, which claims to have gotten the images from DGtle.com, although we can't find them there.