iPad Air 3 Cases to Fit Four Speakers, Rear Flash, and Smart Connector Appear

[SmashHit]

Yes. I still have a ipad 4 so I'm sure it would still be lighter. 1 speaker gets kinda annoying when you listen to Dota 2 streams so much.

I compared the iPad Air to the Pro that it was sitting next to and weight felt identical. So I would imagine if the iPad Air 2 which is lighter than the Pro, acquired 4 speakers, it would probably weigh the same as the Air 1...that would be fine with me.

 

[Karma*Police]

I could almost buy two iPad Airs for that price though...

But that's kind of like saying I could buy two 32" TV's for the price of one 65" TV... Those are two very different use cases.

The iPad Pro is the best all around iPad/computer I've used yet. It does everything better than the iPad Air and mini (I own both) except in cases where portability is paramount, and it can do most things that Macs/PC's can do. In fact, it can do some things better, and it can even do some things they can't do. With the pencil and smart keyboard, it's the uber device, and I firmly believe that it won't be long before a future iteration of iPad Pro and iOS replaces my Mac/PC.

 

[Chloec]

does the ipad air 2 cheaper after air released?

 

[George Bailey]

So it's basically a small iPad Pro.

Why? Because it has 4 speakers and a flash? What about the processing power, the RAM, the screen? Isn't that more of what makes the iPad Pro and iPad Pro?

 

[SmashHit]

• The Air line will NOT get pencil support. Not for a while anyways. Why would Apple botch iPad Pro sales? Either way, it will be interesting to see what actually comes out. I don't get the "flash" support on an iPad? Who uses those devices as a camera?

  
  
• SD CARD DRIVE would be great!

 

[ipedro]

Are 4 speakers really a big deal..?

Yes. 100 times yes.

The sound on the iPad Pro is fantastic! On Christmas, I was with my family and someone asked me to pull up a YouTube video. I had my iPad Air with me. Nobody across the table could hear anything. That wouldn't have been a problem with the iPad Pro.

It's so loud and booming that I'm concerned I'll get a noise complaint from my neighbours when watching a movie in bed late at night. I can't play it at full volume.

 

[Virinprew]

So many people are wishing for Apple Pencil support in the new ipad air. Why not just buy the iPad Pro.

Because it is too big and too expensive?

 

[darbus69]

So it's basically a small iPad Pro. I wonder if it'll support the Pencil. That'll be one way to make me regret my Pro purchase.

the extra real estate does not justify the price???

 

[augustya]

I compared the iPad Air to the Pro that it was sitting next to and weight felt identical.

Remember IDENTICAL and not SAME

So I would imagine if the iPad Air 2 which is lighter than the Pro, acquired 4 speakers, it would probably weigh the same as the Air 1...that would be fine with me.

Air 1 is thicker and bulkier than Air-2 why would you want to have a new model (Air-3) matched against last to last model, would you rather not have the weight of Air-3 as same or better than Air-2 rather than comparing it to Air-1. You are going retro lol !

 

[Neodym]

the only notable difference left for the Pro is the size…
[...]
So you don't think the screen size warrants a price increase?

I can remember the outcry of some people here on MR who wanted the iPad mini to have the same specs as the Air. "Difference should only be size" and "I'd even pay the same price" were not unusual comments iirc.

I don't get the "flash" support on an iPad? Who uses those devices as a camera?

Just two days ago I wanted to take a picture and the iPad was at hand, so I used it. Having the comparably big 9.7" screen as viewfinder was a surprisingly nice and different experience.

what's the point of all that power for a mobile OS?

Mobile applications are becoming increasingly important. And virtual reality for example is still significantly impaired by the relative lack of available mobile power. So there's absolutely no need to cease development just yet.

Besides, Apple is probably already evaluating low-end notebooks with Ax-chips inside. Perhaps even some hybrids (remember e.g. that patent where a monitor functions as docking unit for your personal phone/tablet?).

 

[jotwee]

Ok, I'm assuming "English 2nd language", but still...
Better run that post by a buddy - it makes negative sense.
It's kinda just stringing together words with no point whatsoever.

actually, the post you quoted makes perfectly sense...

 

[Neodym]

the iPad Pro [is] so loud and booming that I'm concerned I'll get a noise complaint from my neighbours when watching a movie in bed late at night. I can't play it at full volume.

I also once lived in a flat with paper-thin walls ... SCNR
[doublepost=1454313591][/doublepost]

actually, the post you quoted makes perfectly sense...

Hey - don't pick on poor Tycho24! He indicated in his post that English is his 2nd language only ...

 

[jhudgins]

I think the chance the Air 3 will be pencil compatible is close to zero. The chance that it will have pencil support at it's current price point is absolutely zero. But should that be the case, I would regret it. The bigger canvas is certainly advantageous with drawing, but smaller, lighter and cheaper are also things I highly value in Apple products. Be aware the iPad Pro is more of a "sit at the table" than "sit on the couch" tablet. But since you say about yourself, you care most about the wacom like drawing, you most definitely are an iPad Pro person. Go buy it now!

Apple would be daft not to add Pencil support for the Air 3.

 

[peterdevries]

Honestly, I believe this is it: 4 speakers, flash, better processor and that's it

What else would you like to see in addition?

 

[iManic]

I'll definitely be upgrading from my iPad 3rd generation. It just can't keep up anymore. I'm hoping the iPad Air 3 will get the A9X chip, although I doubt it will considering its in the iPad Pro and Apple won't want to cannibalise sales.

Will deff be interesting to see what they do with the processor. The a8x was an anomaly with its 3 core cpu but had to be done to increase performance from the a8. If they just throw in the a9 the single core performance will be much better than the a8x but multi core will be around the same. The a9x could be done as well but doubtful it will be at the same spec as the iPad Pro and not only because they don't want to cannibalize iPad Pro sales. Being fanless CPU's the iPad pro offers much more surface area to dissipate heat from the cpu which it will produce plenty of being the fastest clocked apple processor ever released (a8x was 1.5ghz tri-core, a9 is 1.8ghz dual core and the a9x is 2.3ghz dual core !) the air doesn't offer the same heat shedding surface area. Battery is also something to consider as the a9x will probably use more power than the a8x but the bigger battery of the pro can offset some of it despite its bigger screen. Maybe well see a slightly under clocked a9x in the neighborhood of 2.0ghz.

 

[peterdevries]

based on the fact, that the iPad Pro's sales numbers could be better....

.....Based on these facts.....

You should look up the definition of "fact", because those things that you are talking about are "baseless assumptions".

 

[shanson27]

Boring, same, iPad !

 

[Defender2010]

Yes. 100 times yes.

The sound on the iPad Pro is fantastic! On Christmas, I was with my family and someone asked me to pull up a YouTube video. I had my iPad Air with me. Nobody across the table could hear anything. That wouldn't have been a problem with the iPad Pro.

It's so loud and booming that I'm concerned I'll get a noise complaint from my neighbours when watching a movie in bed late at night. I can't play it at full volume.

If your family can't hear an iPad Air at full volume across a table either they are hard of hearing or your iPad is broken. It's loud enough at full volume for any use case.

 

[iManic]

If your family can't hear an iPad Air at full volume across a table either they are hard of hearing or your iPad is broken. It's loud enough at full volume for any use case.

Point is the iPad Pro is significantly louder than any other iPad before it. Not sure if you have had the chance to listen to a cranked up iPad Pro the volume is ridiculous

 

[Smeaton1724]

Aside from the other features it is clear people just do not upgrade iPads like they do iPhones, so they will either have to gimp the device(s) and increase iOS requirements and miss features, or embrace it and throw down the gauntlet with Storage. This would align with the rhetoric of Tim Cook stating the Services category being key long term, they are aiming for people consuming more via services - to do this you need either cheap data plans or local storage.

iPad/iPad Mini Storage sizes: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB. Increase the base price in the UK to £449, £549, £649. Then the usual +£100 for cellular.

I'd also like to see the iPad Pro updated similar to the iPad 4 saw (Introduction of a higher capacity model in the Feb following a release the previous October), storage options of 128GB, 256GB and 512GB, at price points £679, £799, £899.

The above pricing would give the iPad Pro a premium over the Air of £130, (comparing 128GB vs 128GB) which would be 'fair' for a larger device and hopefully stop people comparing the 16GB Air 2 price to the 128GB iPad Pro price, which is ridiculous.

 

[Keirasplace]

I have an iPad Air and did not opt for the Air 2 since there wasn't much of an upgrade. However I am very much looking forward to the Air 3 having 4 speakers and better screen, etc. and that would be enough for me to upgrade to the Air 3. I REALLY thought I would want iPad Pro but after seeing it, I think it is just bigger than I want - portability is not as convenient IMHO.

The Air 2 was a very significant upgrade over the air 2, though not that much if your goal is content consumption. Any power user, or heavy web browser, would see a big difference.

That's why essentially it wasn't upgrade for the christmas season, it was already way more than most people needed in 2014; overkill probably for people just playing videos and reading on it.

Major improvements
iPad Air 2 vs Air
Processors: A8X, 1.7 times the speed of the A7
RAM 2GB versus 1GB
Touch ID vs none
Connectivity: 802.11ac vs 802.11n

Minor ones
Display: bonded screen (increases contrast)
1.4 mm thinner
30g less weight

 

[Smeaton1724]

Why? Because it has 4 speakers and a flash? What about the processing power, the RAM, the screen? Isn't that more of what makes the iPad Pro and iPad Pro?

What makes the iPad 'Pro' is the same thing that makes a Macbook 'Pro'..... Marketing.

 

[NamE_O]

So with all the rumors we've got, I'd say the safest bet on the Air 3's specs would be:

4 speakers
no pencil/smart connector support (which is one of the few things that justifies the price gap of $300 between the Air 2 and Pro for the base model)
no rose gold
A9 chip+2GB RAM (I think Apple would try to differentiate the Pro by giving the Air less powerful chip and keeping the 2GB RAM)
Same 2048 by 1536 Retina display
Still 1st gen touch ID (as the $300 more expensive Pro got the 1st gen touch ID)
8MP rear facing cam & 1.2MP front facing cam (same as above, the $799 Pro got 8MP&1.2MP cam)
LED flash
Slightly thinner & lighter

For anyone who's reading this, remember this is the safest bet. I'm being very conservative and playing safe (maybe too safe?) here, and this is the least I'd expect from the Air 3. But honestly, I don't see the point of even introducing the Air 3 in the spring instead of just waiting till this fall if it actually comes out like this, so I'm 99% sure it'll be better than this.

And here's what I actually hope the Air 3 will have, still considering rumors we've seen so far and being fairly realistic:

A9X+3GB RAM
apple pencil+smart connector support
4 speakers
Retina display with the same resolution but maybe more antireflective and vivid color (I'm not naive and believe Digitimes and think the Air 3 will have 4K display, although it'd be nice if it does have 4K display)
Rose gold option
2nd gen touch ID
13MP rear facing cam & 5MP front facing cam (I dont really care about the rear cam but really hope it'll have the 5MP front facing cam)
LED flash
Slightly lighter & thinner

I'd say this is still pretty realistic, maybe one or two could be wrong, but as long as the Air 3 is close to this then I'm definitely upgrading from my ancient iPad 3.

 

[augustya]

So with all the rumors we've got, I'd say the safest bet on the Air 3's specs would be:


Slightly thinner & lighter

For anyone who's reading this, remember this is the safest bet. I'm being very conservative and playing safe (maybe too safe?) here, and this is the least I'd expect from the Air 3.

I am also on an iPad 3 I wish I had upgraded to the iPad Air-2 when it came out in 2014 but for some reason I didnt. So hoping to upgrade with the iPad Air-3 this year and am hoping it has the same physical attributes of the Air-2 so am very concerned with the way it would look and weigh, Air-2 was a Human Marvel, I hope the Air-3 is also one.

And here's what I actually hope the Air 3 will have, still considering rumors we've seen so far and being fairly realistic:


Slightly lighter & thinner

What makes you think that the Air-3 would be Thinner and Lighter atleast with four speakers on.

 

[flottenheimer]

But will it have pen support?
That's the big one for me.