Ever since Apple launched the iPad in 2010, there have been rumors that Apple will launch a smaller and cheaper iPad mini to compete with cheaper Android based tablets.

And it surely seems like forces are aligning for an iPad mini announcement this year, maybe even this month. 

Designer Martin Hajek has created these amazing 3D renderings of the iPad mini based on the rumors and leaked iPad mini parts, which gives a glimpse of what Apple’s smaller and cheaper iPad may look like. Here’s what we know so far:

• It will come with a 7.85-inch display with 1024×768 resolution (same as the iPad 2 and the original iPad)
• It may come in the same aluminium casing as the full-sized iPad, though Utrecht has created a rendering to show what an iPad mini with carbon fiber.
• iPad mini will look like a big iPod touch, with narrower bezels along the sides of the device paired with thicker bezels at the top and bottom.
• It will be a lot lighter and thinner than iPad 3.
• It will come with Apple’s new Lightning connector.
• The headphone jack will be at the top left edge of the device like the iPad 3 and not at the bottom like the iPhone 5.
• Redesigned speaker grille, similar to the one seen on the iPhone 5.
• Apple may offer an iPad mini model with 4G LTE/3G model capabilities, which will need nano-SIM card.

[via Martin Hajek]