Alleged iPad 3 component shows slightly modified home button

2012 is almost upon us, which means that based on Apple’s yearly refresh of their pdocuts, we can expect to see a refresh of their iPad tablet come Q1 of 2012, and thanks to alleged iPad 3 parts surfacing, it seems like production might be starting to ramp up, or at least in the stages of planning.

The photo you’re looking at above is that of the iPad’s home button, and as you can see, as far as design goes, Apple does not appear to have deviated from their original design nor have they succumbed to capacitive buttons that many had originally thought they would.

Its internal structuring also appears to be smaller than that of the iPad 2’s which might suggest that Apple may be looking at a minor redesign of the tablet to make room for something else. Rumors are saying that the iPad 3 could be sporting a new display with a whopping resolution of 2048×1536 which would add to the thickness of the device, and a smaller home button could help with overall thickness of the device.

Of course none of this can be confirmed and it may just be parts of a possible iPad 3 that Apple was testing, which may or may not make its way into the final design. Either way take this with a grain of salt for now until we actually see something for ourselves!