Photos and video of an alleged rear shell for the upcoming iPad mini 4 have been posted online by Nowhereelse.fr. The site obtained the images from a source that 'could not be more trustworthy' and provided reliable information in the past.
As expected, the iPad mini gains the new aesthetic features of the iPad Air 2. It has two rows of ten holes for the speaker and the lock switch has disappeared in favor of a tiny microphone hole. It's hard to tell if the rear shell is significantly thinner than the current generation; however, it would make sense to bring the iPad mini closer inline with the iPad Air.
Take a look at the photos and video below for more details. At this point, Apple's target release date is unclear. You can follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS for updates.
Except for it doesn't make any sense at all to remove the lock switch. I guess i will not buy any new iPad anymore ever (as the relevant use cases are very few for me anyway)
App,e needs to either bring the Mini to the same specs as the larger iPad like it used to be or discontinue it if they really aren't going to treat it seriously.