Just after a month of its fourth-generation iPad launch, Apple is rumored to be preparing a redesigned fifth-generation iPad that could arrive in March 2013. According to the Japanese blog Macotakara, the iPad 5 will resemble a larger iPad mini and will be thinner and lighter with a 9.7-inch display.

"According to my inside source, iPad(5th) may be released in March, 2013. Source told that, design of this new iPad will be like iPad mini in detail, and be thinner and lightweight. (The expectation comes to have a small 4mm in height, 17mm in width, depth 2mm)," the report said. The internals of the new version will be the same as the fourth generation iPad.

According to an Apple Insider report, the Cupertino-based tech giant's next iPad iteration will reportedly fit "an all-new 7.9-inch Retina display over hand-me-down innards like the A6X processor from the current full-size iPad."

The expected March release of the new version goes by Apple's standard March/April release cycle. If the fifth-generation iPad arrives this March, it would be a year after the launch of iPad 3.

Apple, like all of other OEMs in general, has constantly been trying to shrink the product while stuffing in as much technology as possible. However, it should be noted that the third and fourth-generation iPads had a slightly thicker chassis than its predecessors because they required more internal space to hold the circuitry that powers the unit's Retina display.

With this update expected in March, Apple is believed to have taken a major strategic shift to bring out iPad updates every six months or so to ensure that Microsoft, Google, Samsung and Amazon can't catch up in the tablet market.