Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad Air 3?
- Thread starter 3rdiguy
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Apple will announce the iPad Air 3 next year. The reason they didn't do it this year is because Apple will update iPad once every two years. And also it would take away attention from the brand new iPad Pro.
Here are the Rumored specs for iPad Air 3 as of October 2015
Here are the Rumored specs for iPad Air 3 as of October 2015
- Display: So the rumor is the iPad Air 3 will bring "4K" display with the screen resolution of 2,334 x 3,112 @ 401 PPI up from the current 1,536 x 2,048 @ 264 PPI. However, Here's another possibility. It could also match the iPad Pro's resolution of 2732 x 2048 @ 352 PPI.
- Chip: A9 or A9X chipset. Most possibly A9X since A9 won't be better than the current A8X that's in the iPad Air 2. So, more than likely we'll get the A9X chip which is in the iPad Pro but slightly lower clocked.
- RAM: I Think Apple will stick to 2GB RAM for the Air iPads for a while.
- Camera: So the iPad Air 2 basically got the camera of iPhone 5s. So It's possible that the iPad Air 3 will get the camera of the iPhone 6. 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2.1-megapixel front camera. This new camera will bring Focus Pixels technology, Auto image stabilization (but no Optical image stabilization), an improved ƒ/2.2 aperture, 1080p video at 60fps and Slo-mo video at 240fps etc. Or maybe Apple will keep them unchanged but I doubt it since they'll be updating the iPad Air 3 after two whole years.
- 3D Touch: I'm very sure Apple will introduce 3D Touch in future iPad's. They spent a lot of money developing this breakthrough technology. And when Apple makes new technologies they comes first on iPhone and eventually makes their way to other iOS products (like Retina Display, Siri, Touch ID, Lightning connector, 64-bit chip etc). 3D Touch is not just a gimmick. It's the 2nd generation of touch input and Apple will ship it with every new iOS device they make. It will bring new kinds of inputs for Gaming, Apps and general interactions with our iOS devices. Apple also gave a hint when Phil Schiller said Live Photos will work on iPads as well. Live photos works best with 3D touch. They essentially "invented" live photos to show off 3D touch. So, that's a clear giveaway about 3D touch for iPad.
So yeah, Apple will definitely bring 3D Touch to next year's iPads.
And here are the patents that confirms Apple will bring 3D Touch to iPads.
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...ce-touch-for-the-ipad-magic-mouse-beyond.html
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...h-patent-for-the-ipad-surfaces-in-europe.html
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...nt-brush-and-interacting-with-3d-buttons.html
- Smart Keyboard & Apple Pencil: Smart Keyboard & Apple Pencil is a definite possibility. I don't see why Apple would restrict Smart Keyboard & Apple Pencil to only a very niche market of the iPad Pro when they can sell more accessories with the more popular iPad Air 3 and iPad Mini even.
- Waterproof: Apple unofficially made iPhone 6s and 6s Plus water resistance. So, a water resistant iPad Air 3 is a definite possibility.
- Other: iPad Air 3 could see further battery size reduction to make room for the 3D Touch hardware
I think the other thing is that the iPads are close enough that introducing a new 9.7" iPad with the Mini 4 and the iPP would potentially reduce overall sales. There may also have been production issues. Two new phones and two new iPads is enough to keep everyone busy. Also, it's not as if anything Apple or the app devs are currently offering really cramps the Air 2 hardware, which is already faster than the just-introduced Mini 4.
3D Touch on a phone is fine, but I don't think that's a good UX for the iPad. Furthermore, we use our thumb mostly to interact with the iPhone, thus activating 3D touch is easy (pressing down, as the hand hold the iPhone). Interacting with the iPad uses mostly the index finger. Activating a 3D touch using the index finger don't feel as natural. So I doubt 3D touch make sense on a tablet. In fact, the iPads never have vibration function, ever.
Smart keyboard: Apple is obsessed with "full-sized" keyboard, thus a smart smaller keyboard doesn't really make sense.
I do hope the iPad Air 3 will support the Apple Pencil. It seems natural to have an iPad Air with the stylus support for artists on-the-go. Heck, I can argue the mini should support it too, so there is continuity when one has different sized iPads.
Smart keyboard: Apple is obsessed with "full-sized" keyboard, thus a smart smaller keyboard doesn't really make sense.
I do hope the iPad Air 3 will support the Apple Pencil. It seems natural to have an iPad Air with the stylus support for artists on-the-go. Heck, I can argue the mini should support it too, so there is continuity when one has different sized iPads.
Like I said, I'm very sure Apple will introduce 3D Touch in future iPad's. They spent a lot of money developing this breakthrough technology. And when Apple makes new technologies they comes first on iPhone and eventually makes their way to other iOS products (like Retina Display, Siri, Touch ID, Lightning connector, 64-bit chip etc). 3D Touch is not just a gimmick. It's the 2nd generation of touch input and Apple will ship it with every new iOS device they make. It will bring new kinds of inputs for Gaming, Apps and general interactions with our iOS devices. Apple also gave a hint when Phil Schiller said Live Photos will work on iPads as well. Live photos works best with 3D touch. They essentially "invented" live photos to show off 3D touch. So, that's a clear giveaway about 3D touch for iPad. So yeah, Apple will definitely bring 3D Touch to next year's iPads. And here are the patents that confirms Apple will bring 3D Touch to iPads.
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...ce-touch-for-the-ipad-magic-mouse-beyond.html
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2015/08/an-advanced-force-touch-patent-for-the-ipad-surfaces-in-europe.htm
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...nt-brush-and-interacting-with-3d-buttons.html
So based on these evidence we can say. Apple will definitely bring 3D Touch to next year's iPads.
This is a very interesting spec, and it does seem to hold water. I prefer to read it as 3112 x 2334, which means it will be one step up from being able to play 1080p to 1440p, i.e. it is closer to a 2K display rather than 4K.
This would be 2.3x the pixels of the current "retina" resolution, and a healthy bump up. Any more might cause performance / battery life issues. A true 4K display at 9.7" might not really make sense I guess - exceeding 400PPI at tablet-viewing distances doesn't seem likely to make the display visibly sharper.
Last edited:
Well I think of 2K as being able to fit a 1440p video - i.e. 2560 x 1440 video. At 2048 x 1536, the horizontal dimension is too short unfortunately, but that's a natural result of the 4:3 ratio versus 16:9
Do you think apple pencil will come to the other ipads? On one hand it seems like a loss limiting your consumer bas as I'm sure many will want this feature but on the other hand this would reduce the reasonsto buy an an ipad PRO.
Do I think so? No, I don't think Apple will ever do that. Other people disagree, though. It depends on how Apple wants to market the iPad models and whether they want to segregate features like the "pencil" to the iPP model.
