Apple plans to change the LED backlights of the upcoming iPad 5 in order to shave off a few inches on the tablet's thickness, according to an analyst.

"It's likely that part of the thinner/lighter design will be reducing the size of the LED backlight, partly by making the display more efficient and partly by using more efficient LEDs," said NPD DisplaySearch analyst Paul Semenza said in an e-mail to CNET.

Even though having lighter devices has become a trend in the Tech market, it seemed almost impossible for Apple to make the iPad 5 smaller and lighter than its predecessor. The current report circulating says that the iPad 5 will be 23% thinner and 53% lighter than the iPad 4, which will most likely end up being true if Apple does include "GF DITO" (GF2) touchscreen technology in the iPad 5.

Changes to the light bars used for the screen could also result in less power being needed to run the device, therefore a smaller battery could be used to bring the size down even further. The iPad 4 already has an A6X processor and the iPad 5 is not likely to include a different processor. Instead, there might be some improvements made to the A6X to provide slightly better computing power in the device, but the actual architecture won't be changing.

The iPad 5 is rumoured to have no bezels, and the whole form factor has been made sleeker. Horowitz believes this design indicates that Apple will be calling on Sharp's IGZO screen technology. Sharp, however, according to Horowitz, has been struggling, and its ability to deliver components on time will play a key role in the release of the next iPad.