Apple's large iPad is reported to be released in April alongside a miniature companion — the iPad mini 4. 

There are persistent rumors that the iPad Pro and iPad mini 4 will be released in April. The release of the larger tablet is to yield to the demand of consumers who have a need for a massive slate, while the iPad mini 4 is a follow-up to the iPad mini 3 which did not make a big splash late last year. 

The rumor mill about the extra-large iPad has been churning non-stop. An image of the alleged Apple tablet, also dubbed as iPad Plus, was spotted in Chinese social media site Weibo, and the leaked image shows a device that looks very similar to the iPad Air 2. It is said to be thinner and more lightweight than other devices with a profile of only 7 mm and weight of only 700 grams. The slate shows off a 12-inch screen panel with 2K resolution. 

Based on the photo, the tablet has slightly larger bezels like what were seen in previous iPad models. The photo also shows that the tablet has four speaker grilles placed on each corner of the device. The iPad Pro is said to boast a stunning 11,000 mAh battery capacity, significantly bigger than the iPad Air 2's 7340 mAh battery, suggesting more computing power. 

Meanwhile, the iPad mini 4 is reported to come early this year due to the lack of stellar updates in the recent iPad mini 3. Various publications add fuel to the fire saying that the smaller slate will highly resemble its predecessor bearing a thinner profile. It will also retain some of the features of the current tablet like the screen display and processor. The release of the iPad mini 4 could mean that Apple will kill the iPad mini and iPad mini 3.