Photo of the Back of an iPad 3 Rear Shell, Smart Cover Magnets - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Photo of the Back of an iPad 3 Rear Shell, Smart Cover Magnets

Apparently, iPad 3 enclosures are easy to come by these days. Earlier today, Repair Labs posted a photo of the interior the iPad 3 rear shell. They concluded that there were some minor changes that suggested a larger battery and redesigned logic board.

d3cb7a03b536d349e251574a6c861512 view

Tonight, Apple.pro posts an image of the back of the same shell, showing it to look quite simliar to the current iPad 2 backing, though the camera appears closer to the edge. There's no markings on the enclosure, however. No "iPad" or serial number markings.

f330433e2b2f93d403fa0e11dabb8f06 view
The site also claims to have a photo of the Smart Cover magnets, suggesting the iPad 3 will share the same Smart Cover as the iPad 2. iFixit has a magnet teardown of the iPad 2 which shows a similar magnet configuration.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

iPad A16 Colors

Here's When to Expect an iPad 12 With Apple Intelligence

Friday May 1, 2026 8:21 am PDT by
A new entry-level iPad 12 with Apple Intelligence support likely remains months away, based on a comment shared by an Apple executive this week. On an earnings call on Thursday, Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh said that the company's iPad revenue in the March-June quarter will face a "difficult compare" due to the the launch of the entry-level iPad 11 with the A16 chip in March 2025. Parekh is...
ipad blue

It's a Bad Time to Buy the Low-Cost iPad

Thursday May 14, 2026 2:12 pm PDT by
Apple's iPad that's just an iPad with no Air or Pro attached is its most appealing tablet because of the affordable starting $349 price tag, but if you've been thinking about buying one, you should wait. Apple refreshed the iPad in March 2025, so it's over a year old. That's reason enough not to buy when there's a new model on the horizon, but this year, there's even more to lose by...
iOS 26

iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 5:09 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn't have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and...

Top Rated Comments

Peace Avatar
186 months ago
Can't someone just log in to Foxconn and take a look ?

:D
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
186 months ago
When are we gonna to read Mac rumors? It's been pretty much iPad product wise. Kinda of annoying considering this is supposedly a Mac rumor site.


Not trying to hate, although this isn't going to be popular post.
Since when has apple been just about macs. Exactly. It's just that time of year. Winter we talk about iPad. Spring talk about Mac. Summer iOS and iPhone. And fall lawsuits.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KingJosh Avatar
186 months ago
it's probably a purposely leaked design in order to steer competition down the wrong path. Apple does that lately don't they? If what I say is right the next samsung tablet will still look like an ipad2 and not a 3. If the ipad3 official product was leaked it would be different and samsung would copy it and release before Apple and then say that they didn't copy even though it is exactly the same rofl
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
186 months ago
The camera hole is on the curve. I doubt the lense would be formed like that

I agree

One explanation could be the camera is facing forward so that you take photos like a box brownie camera, looking down at the screen.

Either way you always look stupid taking photos with an iPad
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
186 months ago
Can't someone just log in to Foxconn and take a look ?

:D

I see what you did there. :cool:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
186 months ago
Credit card ready! :cool:

I hate/love playing this waiting game, the anticipation is killing me!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)