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You didn’t really think Apple was going to let Samsung “get away” with the latest Galaxy Note 12.2-centric rumor avalanche, did you? Not when the alleged “iPad Maxi” has gone hand in hand with the largest ever GNote for many months now.

And like clockwork, a fresh report focusing on iPad 5’s purported big brother has surfaced over in China. Sadly, this is essentially just as vague as previous stories, although it ventures into speculating about a possible ETA.

That’s, drum roll please, March 2014, so probably right on the heels of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 12.2 launch, which rumor has it will go down in January or February of next year. Then again, we should still take everything about the jumbo-sized iPad with a solid dose of salt, as there’s no evidence to substantiate the March release or, for that matter, any other ETA.

In other words, we know nothing. Well, almost nothing, as the names of two Apple manufacturing partners appear set in stone: Quanta and now Foxconn. The latter, based in Taiwan and also known as Hon Hai, is the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer by revenue, so it makes perfect sense for Cupertino to ask its support for the umpteen time in recent history.

Foxconn is said to already be in the midst of testing the forthcoming iPad, which is destined to sport a 12.9-inch “Retina” display and may look to undercut the Note 12.2 with a productivity plus given by an optional keyboard dock. Think Microsoft’s Surfaces or, if you will, the Asus Transformer Pad line.

But if that all is to gain credence in the near future, two key questions arise. How expensive should we expect the first ever iPad “hybrid” to be and will it run iOS or OS X? Anyone care to speculate? We’re all ears.

Sources: GforGames, Pad News