Slow sales of the iPad Mini may be prompting Apple to push full steam ahead with the iPad Air and bring it out at an earlier release date than the iPad Mini with Retina display. 

The iPad Air enjoyed strong sales in the fourth quarter of 2013 and there is already excitement bubbling about a follow-up.

The current iPad Air is already a pretty slim device but it's looking like its successor will have even more shaved off the weight and profile.

That speculation comes on the basis of leaked images on Dutch website OneMoreThing purportedly showing the screen and frame of the next iPad.  

The appearance is similar to the current iPad Air but there are some differences in how it looks like it will be put together with the display, with PhoneArena saying it appears that the display is directly glued on to the rear of the frame, as with the Retina MacBook Pro laptops. 

There is also some suggestion that this new type of display and frame would allow the next iPad to fit a bigger battery.  

In addition to making the device thinner, the website also believes the leaked images point to the new iPad Mini being harder to tear apart, making it much more difficult for owners to do their own DIY on.  

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said the iPad Air will come with a fingerprint scanner, 8mp camera, and upgraded A8 processor.

Kuo predicts it will release "earlier in 2014 than the iPad Air was in 2013".   The iPad Air was released last October.

There is also rumored to be in production a new 12.9-inch iPad for release next year, although there are no more details about that just yet.