Will the iPad Air 3 be the next iPad 4?

[Andres Cantu]

I think it's safe to say that the iPad Air was to the iPad 1 what the iPad Air 2 is to the iPad 2. But what about the upcoming iPad Air 3? I don't think that there will be a resolution increase, especially considering the 264 PPI for the iPad Pro.

So instead of the iPad Air 3 being the next iPad 3, I believe that it will have the same design as the iPad Air 2 but with an A9 chip (with a PowerVR Series 7 GPU and LPDDR4 RAM), 32GB of base storage, and an updated FaceTime camera. In other words, a pretty similar upgrade like the iPad 4 was to the iPad 3.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the iPad Mini 4 has these same specs, but at $400. I also feel that force-touch will have to wait another year, much like Touch ID. After all, we haven't heard anything about force-touch on iPad yet.

 

[Che Castro]

I think apple might pull another ipadmini 3 with the iPad Air 3 , call it new but same internals and maybe make it look like the iPhone 6

 

[Andres Cantu]

I think apple might pull another ipadmini 3 with the iPad Air 3 , call it new but same internals and maybe make it look like the iPhone 6

I guess it's possible, but I don't think they would change the design of the iPad Air every year for three years in a row (look at how long the iPad 2's design was used).

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I guess it's possible, but I don't think they would change the design of the iPad Air every year for three years in a row (look at how long the iPad 2's design was used).

The iPad 2s design was only used for the iPad 2.

 

[Andres Cantu]

The iPad 2s design was only used for the iPad 2.

If you're referring to thickness, then yes. But I'm referring to its overall design language. The iPad 1 had one design, the iPads 2 through 4 had another, and the iPad Air 1 and 2 have another (although the iPad Air 2 is thinner).

 

[newellj]

I think apple might pull another ipadmini 3 with the iPad Air 3 , call it new but same internals and maybe make it look like the iPhone 6

I would not be surprised if that happened, with a big change coming in 2016.

 

[Andres Cantu]

I would not be surprised if that happened, with a big change coming in 2016.

I prefer to think that the design will change until next year, as we have not had any leaks indicating that the iPad will take the iPhone 6's design. If I recall correctly, the iPad Air's design was leaked many months before its release.

 

[newellj]

I prefer to think that the design will change until next year, as we have not had any leaks indicating that the iPad will take the iPhone 6's design. If I recall correctly, the iPad Air's design was leaked many months before its release.

Do you mean will not change until next year?

 

[Andres Cantu]

Do you mean will not change until next year?

Yes, disregard my "until."

 

[newellj]

Yes, disregard my "until."

I think we're saying the same thing then. OTOH, as has come up in a few other subforums here, there aren't many of the usual leaks that we're used to seeing. It's possible that Apple has got more control over leaks than in previous years - hard to tell.

 

[Andres Cantu]

I think we're saying the same thing then. OTOH, as has come up in a few other subforums here, there aren't many of the usual leaks that we're used to seeing. It's possible that Apple has got more control over leaks than in previous years - hard to tell.

Could be, we haven't seen any iPhone or iPad Pro leaked casings (only one iPad Mini 4 and a possible iPhone 6c).

 

[jschu22]

Is an iPad with a new design going to make much of a impact on the current state of tablet sales? I'm doubtful so that's why I think the look will be the same. What would change my mind is the eventual design of the Pro because I do think each of them, and mini, will mirror each other in style.

If the iPad pro looses its beveled edges (and goes iPhone 6-like) so will the the iPad.