As reports emerged that the 2013 iPad Mini 2 release date is unlikely to happen or high-resolution Retina will not be part of the deal even if it comes out this year, a cheaper and coloured concept of the iOS 7 slate surfaced.

Reuters reported this week that the much-awaited second iPad Mini edition is in danger of totally skipping the 2013 holiday quarter. Apple, according to the news agency, continues to struggle with the volume production of the Retina-laced small tablet.

The earliest the product should come out is Q1 2014, the report said.

Apparently, the technology has been perfected - the Mini 2 will deliver a 7.9-inch screen that boasts of the same immersive display experience of the 9.7-inch iPad 5 with the same 2048 x 1536 resolution of the latter plus efficient energy use.

But the problem is, Apple contractors will not be able to assemble the adequate amount of supplies to meet the expected heavy requirements of the Christmas shopping rush. One alternative available for the tech giant is to issue instead a budget version - mirroring most of the first Mini specs but with 8GB of internal memory to keep the price down.

Apple, however, is apprehensive that minus Retina, the iPad Mini 2, even with a lower price tag, will only create a major backlash among consumers.

Enter the coloured iPad Mini C concept from Martin Hajek, who has been gaining solid reputation for string of interesting iOS device mock ups.

The pics provided by Mr Hajek showed off a Mini that is clearly inspired by the iPhone 5C, beautifully crafted in machined enclosure that has a red finish (see images). It is unclear, however, if the Mini C will maintain it metallic casing or will also adopt the plastic material used by Apple with the 5C.

This Mini C also flashes the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, embedded with the circular Home button, that previous renders and leaked reports said will be part of the Mini 2 package.

However, the concept author is silent on the specs, opting to leave most of the details to consumers' imagination.

Analysts are convinced that a more powerful engine will be deployed with the Mini 2, likely an A6 or A6X CPU in the dual-core class with possible bump up in the RAM provision, which in the 2012 model was only at 512MB.

The software features though were pretty much defined, hinted strongly by killer features galore packed with the iOS 7.

Should the Reuters report misses the mark, the iPad Mini 2 release date will likely happen between October and November 2013 or a few days and weeks following the rumoured Apple event on Oct 15.