iPad Air 3 Could Feature Four Speakers and Rear-Facing LED Flash

[MrUNIMOG]

No chance they'll give it iPad Pro power. Either an A9 with higher clock rate, or an A9X with lower clock rate (both cpu and graphics) and 2 GB RAM only. Or something A10-ish.

And to all those worried about battery life: It won't get those massive speaker housings which iPad Pro has. Just 4 instead of the current 2 speakers won't take that much more volume away from the battery.

 

[The Doctor11]

I love my iPad Air 2, honestly one of the best devices I've ever used. It would take quite a bit to make me upgrade, I'll probably use it for the next year or 2. Maybe more, its an amazing device.

 

[danielwsmithee]

My iPad 2 is ready to be replaced. I'd love an iPad Air 3 if it 1) has good performance, 2) supports the pencil, 3) supports force touch. Essentially a scaled down version of the Pro would be great.... I've liked playing with that it is just too big for how I use my iPad.

 

[KPOM]

I'm guessing it will have an A9 (not X) but no Pencil support. They need something to differentiate the Pro.

 

[bushido]

they ask developers to finally implement 3D Touch features, indicating that theres a lack of interest so far yet they are about to release two products (iPhone 5SE and iPad Air 3) without 3D Touch support? what the hell

 

[Liquinn]

No chance they'll give it iPad Pro power. Either an A9 with higher clock rate, or an A9X with lower clock rate (both cpu and graphics) and 2 GB RAM only. Or something A10-ish.

And to all those worried about battery life: It won't get those massive speaker housings which iPad Pro has. Just 4 instead of the current 2 speakers won't take that much more volume away from the battery.

When's A11?

 

[sledgehammer89]

If Apple seriously looking for ways to combat declining iPad sales, then they had included A9, Pencil Support, variable refresh rate and 12MP with OIS and LED-Flash support into iPad mini 4 last year.

Nothing of these features isn't possible, nothing hurts battery life and really nothing hurts sales...

 

[ghost187]

If this has everything iPad Pro has, than I'm guessing $699 price tag seems appropriate (with 32gb base storage).

 

[Mindown]

Fake
Apple wouldn't let the top and bottom speakers' grills misaligned by a few millimeters.

 

[Soccertess]

i wonder if it will have the smart cover port that the Ipad Pro has..

I wonder if you could power an e-ink screen off that port!

 

[Mr. Dee]

Well, I want to complete my Apple ecosystem, so I am hoping for Apple Pencil support, bare minimum 32 GBs for base model, 3D Touch (probably saving this for iPad Pro 2 as a differentiator).

 

[Zwhaler]

If they do indeed add two more speakers, A9X with the 4gb of ram, then to me it's seems like a good enough upgrade for me

Seems like it would cannibalize sales of the iPad Pro. Hopefully they do though, sounds beast.
[doublepost=1453750210][/doublepost]Bring on the iPad Air 4...

 

[panther quest]

If they add support for the Pencil, that would sell it for me.

Likewise. It would be such a shame if they don't.

 

[iLunar]

I love my iPad Air 2, honestly one of the best devices I've ever used. It would take quite a bit to make me upgrade, I'll probably use it for the next year or 2. Maybe more, its an amazing device.

Agreed. The only thing that might make me upgrade is if Pencil support is included. Having used an iPad Pro and Pencil, it is an amazing experience, but I don't like the size of the Pro.

 

[rawweb]

If they add Pencil support, let's hope they start getting these things in stock. Us Pro owners still struggle to find them. Pretty ridiculous that they're not in stock at most retail stores and still have a shipping delay for online purchases (released November 11).

 

[MrUNIMOG]

When's A11?

What do you mean?

 

[Enygmatic]

I'm guessing it will have an A9 (not X) but no Pencil support. They need something to differentiate the Pro.

It'll have the "X" version, as all of the 9.7" versions have had since, what, 2012? Probably just clocked a tad lower... Other key differentiators will be the screen size itself, and likely (going forward) storage capacities - and certain accessory support.

(I do agree: it would not shock me at all if the Air 3 didn't support the Pencil or have a Smart Connector, especially the former)

 

[MrUNIMOG]

It'll have the "X" version, as all of the 9.7" versions have had since, what, 2012? Probably just clocked a tad lower... Other key differentiators will be the screen size itself, and likely (going forward) storage capacities - and certain accessory support.

(I do agree: it would not shock me at all if the Air 3 didn't support the Pencil or have a Smart Connector, especially the former)

Nope, iPad Air had an A7. There was no A7X.

 

[malexandria]

I just want to be able to read it outside.

 

[trekkie604]

Don't be that guy holding up an iPad as a flashlight...

 

[walnuts]

I've been wondering whether the rumor that the iPad won't support 3D Touch was actually because they couldn't do 3D Touch with the Apple pencil digitizer.

I may be a minority here (and certainly amongst the public), but the apple pencil (or really any stylus that works) matched with an iPad that's smaller than the Pro is the killer feature for me. I use a tablet for all of my note taking; I have wanted this feature in an Apple tablet for years. I'd buy it the moment it's available, and I wouldn't care about any other feature.

 

[ipedro]

The 4 speaker chamber technology on the iPad Pro is fantastic! I'd like it to be rolled out across the line of iPads and iPhones.

 

[2457282]

My wish list, in order of importance,

1. 3D touch
2. Suport for Apple Pencil
3. Four speakers
4. More memory — at least 3gb
5. Faster at same battery life
6. Better cameras
7. Faster touch-id

The more Apple hits of that list, the more likely I will be to upgrade. Honestly 1&2 would probably be enough—the reset are nice to have.

But as I hope Apple is finally coming to understand, what's holding back sales in the iPad—and the watch, cloud services etc.—and is a mid-term threat to the business, is the software.

Hardware got Apple to its place of dominance, but it will not keep it there.

Great wish list. Since they improved the Touch ID with the 6s, I suspect you will get that. And of course they will move the CPU up so you will get the faster wish as well. It seems likely that they would imbed the same technology of the pro (at least it does to me) so getting the pencil and 3D seems straight forward as well. Four speakers - because, why not? What I really think would be useful is a flash on the front side camera. I have never use the back side camera (but like the story states some do), but I suspect that way more folks use the front side like I do -- for conference calls through FaceTime (or something else). I light on the front would therefore be useful for when chatting with folks.

 

[transpo1]

The features that would sell it for me are the-

1. Smart Connector and
2. Pencil

I've had enough of wishy-washy Bluetooth pairing with keyboards, and that would be a step-up for usability instead of laptop. The Pencil would be icing on the cake.

That said, the last time I bought an iPad with the numbering 3 before it, Apple released a version 4 within 6 months in the same year- the only time they've ever done that, I believe. Will they do the same this year and catch up to their traditional fall release schedule for iPad? Hmm...

 

[Mr. Donahue]

It shoulda had flash in the iPad when they first put it into an iPhone! If they can do it for one why not the other?

I don't think I'll ever buy an iPad. I do want a Mini tho.