A lighter iPad will be a welcome improvement, after the third and fourth generation iPads with Retina display added some weight to the device. Apple’s iPad 2, at 1.33 pounds (601 g), was actually lighter than the models that followed. The current iPad weighs in at 1.44 pounds (652 g).
A thinner iPad would also make it easy to hold on to, you might think. The thickness of the current model is 0.37 inch (9.4 mm), that’s also thicker than the iPad 2 which has a depth of 0.34 inch (8.8 mm).
Source: The Wall Street Journal