Apple Slate to Feature Aluminum Chassis, Q2 Ship Date

Here’s another heaping pile of grist for the Apple rumor mill: The company’s Taiwanese manufacturing partners are said to be ramping up production of the touchscreen panels and aluminum chassis intended for the tablet/slate computer Apple (AAPL) is widely expected to uncrate at an as-of-yet unannounced special event Jan. 27. Which means the mysterious device is likely to arrive at market sometime in Q2.

“Production of the cases will begin in February, so everything points to a second-quarter launch right now,” an unnamed source told Reuters. “It doesn’t take that long for the company to assemble the PC together, but a second-quarter shipment date is what we’re looking at now.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard such predictions. Last month, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Yair Reiner said his checks into Apple’s supply chain indicated that “the manufacturing cogs for the [device] were creaking into action” with an eye toward a spring launch.

Additionally, sources this week told The Wall Street Journal that Apple would ship a tablet device to customers in March.