Photos show alleged gold iPad mini 2 blinged out with fingerprint sensor

Gold iPad mini 2 photos
Like Goldilocks, this rumor seems 'just right'

It's less than 24 hours before Apple's tablet-focused press conference, but that's just enough time for one final leak of an alleged gold iPad mini 2.

The eight photos from French site NowhereElse.fr are some of the highest quality pictures supposedly showing the 7.9-inch tablet.

In addition to being outfitted in the rumored gold color, the iPad mini 2 photos suggest that it will indeed feature Touch ID capabilities.

This assumption comes from the fact that the champagne-colored tablet depicted has a new "blank" home button that matches the one on the iPhone 5S.

iPad mini 2? Is that you?

It's actually hard to tell the difference between the alleged iPad mini 2 and the full-sized iPad 5 leaks, as the two tablets are expected to resemble each other.

Without another object in the photos to scale the 7.9- and 9.7-inch tablets, they're beginning to look exactly the same. They even both have the generic "iPad" insignia on the back.

That's great news for upcoming iPad 5 owners. The full-sized device is anticipated to have shed a lot of bezel and weight while keeping the big Retina display.

gold iPad mini 2

May be harder to find than the gold iPhone 5S (credit: NowhereElse.fre)

Retina availability unclear

iPad mini 2 is also expected to inherit the Retina display seen in other current Apple devices like the iPad 4 and iPhone 5S.

But prior reports suggested that the smaller tablet is going to be scarce due to the high resolution display.

Some have even suggested Apple may release a non-Retina model, though that rumor is far from confirmed.

What seems far more likely is that iPad mini 2 availability will be low until early 2014, much like the gold iPhone 5S to this day.

Matt Swider