AppleInsider reports that according to a story on Japanese website Macotakara, iPad mini production has already started over at Foxconn’s purpose-built plant in Brazil. Macotakara says that it does not yet know if any of Foxconn’s plants in China (scene of recent major riot, of course!) will also be getting involved in production of the iPad mini. Apparently, the source for the story says that the iPad mini model that is being produced at this very minute, as we speak , does not have a hole for the microphone on the rear of the case, unlike some of the mock ups of the iPad mini that were floating around over the past few weeks. And, as AppleInsider also reports, another such mock-up has recently surfaced on Nowhereelse.fr, placed alongside a Kindle Fire and a Nexus 7, for comparison purposes. AppleInsider says that the iPad mini mock-up in the picture is just 7.69 millimetres thick, which is thinner than the latest Retina display iPad, which is 9.91 millimetres thick.

Source: Rumor: 'iPad mini' production now underway in Brazil
'iPad mini' mockup compared to Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD