iPad Air 3 release date, news and rumors
Update: Apple is set to launch a 9.7-inch iPad Pro tomorrow, according to the latest rumors, giving us more than a straight-up iPad Air 3 revision – for a slightly higher price, of course. Here’s everything we know heading into the March 2016 keynote.
It’s been over 500 days since the iPad Air 2 launch, and Apple’s flagship tablet is overdue for a specs refresh. The good news is that it may have inherited some extra iPad Pro-level features in that time.
Everything we’re seeing is pointing to a 9.7-inch iPad Pro, instead of a generic iPad Air 3, giving more consumers a chance wield the Apple Pencil and a normal-sized tablet that doesn’t cost nearly as much.
That’s not to say we weren’t impressed with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro late last year. It’s more of a case of its size and price being inaccessible for far too many. It may have served as a test of things to come.
If true, the features aren’t too hard to anticipate. The name game is what we’re unsure about: Will it be called the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, iPad Air 3, simply new iPad or a different moniker altogether?
We’ll be at the event and updating this page in real time, so keep your aging tablet hardware locked and F5 reloaded. Until then, here’s everything we expect from Apple’s March 21 keynote.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? Apple’s next super-thin tablet
- When is it out? Monday, March 21, 2016 launch date
- What will it cost? Estimated to be $599 (likely £479, AU$829)
9.7-inch iPad Pro release date
Tomorrow, Apple is poised to announce a smaller iPad Pro (replacing the need for an iPad Air 3) during its first press conference of 2016 at its Cupertino headquarters.
However, the actual release date won’t be Monday, March 21 like you’re probably hoping. Instead, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro will likely be made available on a not-too-distant Friday in the future.
Friday is the day of the week Apple favors for launching new products. We have the same expectations for the debut of the iPhone SE, its smaller 4-inch phone running iOS 9.3, and new Apple Watch bands.
The wait for a new 9.7-inch iPad has been a long time coming. Initially, an iPad Air 3 was expected by the end of 2015; Apple has never broken from its annual tablet release cycle (it’s only sped it up once).
The company did tied us over with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and 7.9-inch iPad Mini 4. And to be honest, that kept us satisfied. The iPad Pro feels like an innovative, new product while the iPad Mini 4 is a big improvement upon the iPad Mini 3.
Rumor is that Apple wanted to hold off releasing the third iteration of the iPad Air, as it didn’t want to overload consumers with too many different choices. Good decision.
9.7-inch iPad Pro price
The iPad and iPad Air line have stuck to the same basic price point since the very beginning, when Steve Jobs unveiled the tablet in 2010. But that could finally change with Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
It’ll cost $599 in the US due to all of its extra components, according to the newest, heartbreaking rumor. That’s $100 over what the iPad Air 2 launch price was back in October 2014.
In the UK, we estimate the price will be £479 (instead of £399) and in Australia AU$829 (not AU$699). That’s how much it costs to go from 16GB to 64GB, so Apple may bump everything down the line.
Hopefully that’s a strong hint that Apple is also finally doing away with the 16GB entry-level size. It would make sense – but it also may be wishful thinking.
There’s a question of what happens to the iPad Air 2. It still tops our best tablet list, so Apple is likely to keep it around but drop the price to $399 (£319, AU$569), while retiring the original iPad Air.
9.7-inch iPad Pro design and specs
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro, if you buy into the rumors, will take almost all of its cues from the larger iPad Pro. In six months, Apple has learned how to fit the Pro-level specs in a smaller aluminum frame.
It’ll still look like the sub-pencil-thin iPad Air 2 on the outside, but beneath the design is thought to be the powerful Apple A9X processor, 12-core PowerVR GPU and 4GB of RAM. It’s a beast in a smaller box.
Even more exciting than what’s on the inside is what it’s capable of on the outside: the Smart Connector and Apple Pencil seem to be in full support for mobile productivity to the max.
With the magnetic Smart Connector, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro will be able to connect to and power a new Smart Keyboard (one that fits the smaller tablet dimensions), and potentially other new accessories.
But what if you’re a multimedia iPad user, one who is “read only” instead of “read and write?” There’s good news for Netflix bingers here, too: all four speakers of the iPad Pro are said to be onboard.
That rumor was backed up by an iPad Air 3 case has appeared on Chinese retailer site Alibaba. It shows off the quad speaker setup, as well as a space for the magnetic powered Smart Connector for whenever you want to connect up something like a keyboard accessory.
9.7-inch iPad Pro mystery specs
Not all of the iPad Pro specs are so clear cut. For example, there’s a (literal) cut out of the back of its tablet casing, giving us a hint at an LED camera flash.
It suggests the long rumored camera feature may be real this time around. That said, there’s no official word these renders are based on real evidence and it could be that it’s all based on rumor.
Touch ID and a 9.7-inch screen size seems like a given for this smaller iPad Pro, but the resolution and screen technology could see improvements, especially with its use of the Apple Pencil.
It may come with a 4K screen resolution of 2334 x 3112, according to rumored specs from MyDrivers, but that sounds a bit far from the iPad Air 2 and its 1536 x 2048 screen resolution.
We’ll almost certainly see an increase in levels of pressure sensitivity, and we’re hoping for but less likely is the chance of 3D touch technology, like we’ve seen on the Apple Watch and iPhone 6S.
Another thing we’d like to see: 32GB becoming the smallest size. For now we don’t have much to go on, but the 12.9-inch iPad Pro has two options: 32GB and 128GB, so that’s a good sign as any.
Then there’s the shooter – not many people focus on the camera possibilities of the iPad Air, but the new version is rumored to stick with an 8MP sensor and add in an LED flash to make it easier taking night shots.
iPad Air 3 rivals
Apple is its own worst enemy here – all the big competitors to the iPad Air 3 are other tablets made by Apple. You’re covered by the iPad range whether you want something a little smaller or even a little bigger as well.
There’s the iPad Mini 4 from Apple that comes with an upgraded processor and a gorgeous 7.9-inch screen. It’s one of the most portable and light tablets on the market right now.
If you’re looking for bigger; it’s the iPad Pro. This comes with a huge 12.9-inch display and a very powerful A9X processor under the hood. It will cost you a little bit extra though as this tablet doesn’t come cheap.
Then there’s a lot of Android competition out there as well with the likes of the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet, Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 and the Google Pixel C looking for your attention.
9.7-inch iPad Pro and iOS 9.3
With Apple up to iOS 9.3 beta 7, I’m more than confident that the company will launch iOS 9.3 to one and all at tomorrow’s launch event.
It’s be the perfect cherry on top after the new iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro debut to the world. And, from years past, we know that Apple loves launching new hardware with new software.
Both the smaller phone and tablet represent a good mid-cycle refresh, and that’s exactly what iOS 9.3 is all about. It fits right in between iOS 9 and this summer’s expected iOS 10 beta launch.
While iOS 9 brought improvements to Siri and Apple Maps, true multitasking for iPads and a new on-screen keyboard, the iOS 9.3 update adds Night Shift and multi-user logins for education.
9.7-inch iPad Pro keynote
That’s everything we have heard about the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, but there’s surely going to be more news coming straight from Apple in the next 24 hours.
The company has sent out the invites to its event, and techradar will be in attendance, bringing you all of the new iPhone and iPad coverage live from Apple headquarters.
Every rumor we’ve reported on is fair game to be announced at the event, but in terms of which ones will reveal themselves, we’ll have to wait just a while longer.
What we want to see
1. Ditch the 16GB size
With the iPad Air 2 Apple got rid of the 32GB option and offered 64GB for the same price. That was much appreciated but oddly a 16GB model was still in play.
Given how big many apps are now getting and the fact that no iPad is ever going to offer expandable storage that just doesn’t really cut it, especially if you want to store videos, games and music on your slate too, which is half the fun of having one. So we’d like to see Apple finally abandon the 16GB size and make 32GB the smallest.
2. Better slow motion video
Any regular readers will know we’re not the biggest fans of cameras on tablets, but if you’re going to include a feature at least do it right, which Apple hasn’t really done with slow motion video on the iPad Air 2.
It’s an option, but it’s capped at 120fps, which just doesn’t cut it when the less powerful iPhone 6 can reach 240fps. So we want twice the frames and twice the smoothness on the iPad Air 3, which can actually use the feature better as it’s got that larger viewfinder.
3. Bring back the silencer
While the iPad Air 2 is a better device in most ways than the iPad Air, one thing changed for the worse. We’re talking of course about the removal of the silencing switch.
Technically it’s not needed any more, as silencing the tablet is easily achievable through Control Center, but having a switch was much, much easier so we’d like to see it come back for the iPad Air 3.
4. Don’t make it any thinner
There’s a worrying trend among smartphone and tablet makers to create ever slimmer devices. There’s no denying that slimmer slates can look better and be more portable, but the most extreme examples are slightly ludicrous, not to mention impractical, as they force batteries to be shrunk and hamper the device’s durability.
At 6.1mm thick the iPad Air 2 is right on the edge of what we’d consider to be an acceptable thickness, so we really don’t want the iPad Air 3 to get any thinner.
5. Better battery life
The iPad Air 2’s battery life is more than reasonable, with the slate happily chugging along for up to 10 hours of web browsing or video viewing, but it could still always be better and if you’re an avid gamer you’ll find its life is cut significantly short.
We hope then that the iPad Air 3 will get a battery boost, so we can be confident that a transatlantic flight or epic train journey won’t leave us dying of boredom.
6. Up the resolution
The iPad Air 2 already has one of the best tablet screens around, but if Apple keeps a 1536 x 2048 resolution for the iPad Air 3 it risks feeling a bit dated.
The likes of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S and Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet already have it beaten. In fact when it comes to pixel density both the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus have the edge and let’s not even get started on all the QHD phones we’re seeing now.
Sure, tablets aren’t phones, but with all the media we enjoy on them they’re every bit as deserving of a super sharp screen.
7. Improved daylight visibility
As well as being sharper we hope the iPad Air 3’s screen is easier to see outdoors, especially in bright sunlight.
You can just about use the iPad Air 2 without a roof over your head but there’s plenty of room for improvement here. A big selling point of tablets is mobile entertainment and one that you can’t really use outside is significantly limited in that sense.
8. Front-facing speakers
Given that the iPad Air 2 just has a single speaker it manages to kick out some fairly impressive sounds, but stereo speakers would be a definite improvement.
While we’re on the subject, it would be great if they were moved from the base of the slate to the front, so that they’re actually oriented towards you when you’re watching videos and playing games.
Source: techradar.com
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you should stop to touch your dick when you see an ipad… Masturbation isn't good for brain… The pixel C is better in all points than ipad air 2, no doubts about that.
damn how much do you read?
With ya skywalkr2. It's hard to imagine anything faster, more powerful, longer lasting and reliable as the Air 2/iPhone 6s lines. I'm also with you holding a year as I bought my wife the Air 4 for Christmas and set it up last weekend. Wow!
I'd want the pen to work with it. Pro is too big but I would love to use an iPad for sketching.
Have either of you upgraded to iOS 9? Or, maybe your Airs came with it… How is it? I've been holding off upgrading.
Boy! Wouldn't THAT be nice!
Mac's have fallen off the cliff. MacBooks have really been stagnant for ten years. OR 5 years if you insist that physical design actually matters.
All apple seems to be able to do is push the plus/minus size buttons for it's products.
And wouldn't it be nice if someone told Apple that a 48GB bump in memory for phones/tablets should NOT cost $100. Especially when it cost them around $5. This is the kind of gluttony that got Apple in trouble in the 90's. REALLY REALLY expensive, "slightly" above average products.
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i am agree with author of this topic and another people that put their comment. i wish ipad air 3 have bigger battery than ipad air 1 while ipad air 2 have smaller battery than ipad air 1
i know it is because of smaller thickness of device and that newer processor use less power, but because of that i sold my new ipad air 2 128gb cellural and bought new ipad air 1 128gb cellural in 40% lower price. on another hand i hope that apple will make air 3 in the thickness of air 1 (air 2 with 6,1 mm is to thin, 7,5 mm is perfect) and then will be place for bigger battery with better performance than air 2 and air 1. current resolution it is great for me, no need to change it at all (bigger resolution = lower performance in games / apps, and there is a lot of apps adjusted to current native resolution which will look worse with using scale in bigger resolution, and i do not think that each app will be updated to bigger resolution), if i have to say some more, will be great to have speakers in landscape position and not portrait like now – please ask yourselve and answer: are you play with games or use music apps in portrait mode more frequently? no, answer is: in landscape mode. APPLE engineers, if you read this comments, please make bigger battery in ipad air 3 and ipad no to thinner than air 2; ipad air 1 thick ess size is the best. ps. of course 16 gb in primary model is a joke not only in future ipad air 3 but in ipad air 2 model as well.
instead of "iPad Pro/iPad Air Plus" apple should introduce touch in the Macs. FOCUSE ON "MACBOOK".
my mother want to use ipad instead of iPhone so make it full replacement. INCLUDE GOOD REAR CAMERA WITH THE SAME FPS CAMERA OF IPHONE OR MORE. INCLUDE 'FLASH" FOR CAMERA
Boy, unless you are holding the screen up to your eyes and zooming in, making the letters HUGE, the pixels are invisible to virtually every mortal on the planet!
As other commenters have noted, resolution is fine (sometimes higher res, as on laptops, renders everything too tiny to view comfortably!) and slightly thicker, with longer battery life, and more RAM, would be higher priorities for most people!
iOS 9's font changed Helvetica to San Francisco.
I think Helvetica was better.
Apple, please revert to Helvetica!
I've updated my Air2 through development program to I believe the third iteration of 9.3, and I love it. My iPad Pro as well with one of the favorites being white balance granular control for evening reading, a warmer temperature, making it easier on my eyes
Well u can get a filemanager through Cydia or iPawind, iFile is it? Not sure how good it is but it's been around for many years.
That's bizarre Steve and couldn't be more opposite my experience with the Air2 since its release. My eyes are going to hell too (45 years old) and I feel like the entire HiDPI/retina thing has grown with the worsening of my eyes. I own the Air 2 as well as the Mini 2 & 4. There's literally ZERO difference in the sharpness between the three or my iPhone 6s+. The colors on my mini 4 are no MUCH closer to the Air 2 – that much more accurate
But if there's a Single thing I'd like to see Apple avoid it's the ridiculously high PPI levels that do nothing but much battery life. They do little in the way of sharpness …and Apple's iOS has text nailed. Not sure what tablet you were looking at but it certainly wasn't the A2 with its new lamination process, best in the ring reflectability scores and near 100% color gamut coverage with insane density to start.
No need to add more at all (and I'm ambidextrous …own a Note 4 as well as S6 Edge. Very familiar with the OLED trickery and sib pixel layout to 'achieve' such densities.
As a temporary emergency solution, I have got an iPad Mini 4 for €339 (which coincides with the maximum price I wanted to pay) because a) there still is no Windows tablet that is non-ruggedised, has a 4:3 display and has a display that is matte or has an at least equally low reflectance and b) the 2% reflectance of the Mini 4 is barely acceptable (the 2.5% of the Air 2 did not convince me).
After 1.5 months of daily use of the iPad, the features I am missing the most by far are:
– file manager (and local file transfer manager to Windows PCs)
– matte screen
The missing file (transfer) manager means that I can only do 30% of the tasks I would want to do with a tablet and cannot do the remaining 70%. It is exactly as I had expected. File management on the iPad itself is difficult to impossible (depending on file types and involved apps; for some file types I need, it is impossible). Local file transfer to / from a Windows PC is difficult to impossible (the more files the harder it becomes; most apps refuse im- and export of files; many apps make it difficult to impossible to open-in files in other apps; for some file types I need, it is impossible).
I have used matte notebook and monitor displays since ca. 1990 and it is exactly what I need and want. I want to see the displayed contents and do not want to see the environment and myself mirrored in the display making reading and work as difficult as possible. Matte displays approach the nice and pleasant matte paper of books. Matte representation on a display let the appearance be "dull" and this diffuse light is beautiful. Too intense colours and a sparkling surface would only distract. A display must not be carneval and xmas tree combined but it must be decent. I urgently need matte displays because of frequent outdoor use or reflected lights and window lights.
The iPad hardware is good (with the know exceptions such as the too small storage and the too large price for more storage) and the iPad can be used for easy surfing or reading tasks for 10 or 11 hours. iOS has confirmed 95% of my bad expectations, such as the impossibility of making the OS more secure than its own implementation. An exception: saving a webpage as a PDF is a useful feature. The record number of apps in the store is as great a disappointment as I expected: of ca. three dozen apps for a specialised purpose, zero fulfil my needs.
For its purpose as a temporary emergency solution, the iPad Mini 4 is worth its €339 but I would advise anybody not to pay one cent more. I.e., the current market price of €369 is too high. As soon as there will be reliable Windows tablets or 2-in-1s (whose keyboard I can hide) with 4:3 matte display, the iPad will just collect dust.
I ALWAYS WONDER IF I COULD JUST ORDER THE COMPANY HOW A PRODUCT I WANT FOR MY PERSONAL USE
Total copy of the Surface, without all the productivity lol
It would be helpful if we could actually post facts instead of opinions. Most people read these comments as a tool to help them decide which model to purchase. Not to listen to a few whiny, self appointed experts try to prove each other wrong. Bottom line, everyone visualizes resolutions differently. Resolution doesn't mean squat to a person with sight impairments and YES, blind people rely on Apple or MAC products too. So, my OPINION, is keep them lightweight and charged up, wireless charging perhaps?
Dude. It's 2015. Apple passed that horse three years ago
iPad doesn't need a higher resolution screen. The mini is already at retina resolution. I would have loved pencil support built into the mini 4. And pencil support built into the iPad Air 3 or whatever they are going to call it. I'm excited about the Apple pencil. However not excited about pro iPad. It's too big. I like to draw on my iPad mini. But would go a little larger for pencil support. But probably not laptop sized like the iPad pro.
The purpose of tablet is usage ability not to compare with other tablet or bloat spec around. I prefer current resolution with longer battery life. My family have both iPad air 2 and mini 2, I still prefer iPad Air 2 display more than mini since mini have gap between glass and display, mini display is ancient technology not ipad air.
"The iPad Air 2 is the first iPad with an optically bonded cover glass—all previous iPad models had high reflectance air gaps under the cover glass" – Gizmodo 1651239343
And you should watch some test http://www.displaymate.com/iPa…
The only thing mini retina have is more ppi. But is it better display, not quite.
Apple can easily be up ppi without downtime, maybe yes.
But I prefer current ppi with additional 1-2 hours of current usage time.
Sounds more like you're looking for excuses to NOT buy!
Seriously, buy one, you'll like it! You'll quickly discover that having a file manager is an overblown need, something extra that you easily do without! There's lots of myths floating around about i-devices not being able to open diverse files, not being able to open a file from one app in another, etc.
Many apps come with folder management and most key ones (e.g., Safari) support the iOS "Open in…" feature which allows you to open, say, a PDF you find on line in whichever app can read it! Likewise, attachments received via email can be opens in the requisite apps– your choice! Truly, you'll discover that it's mostly nice NOT having to manage files or have a Finder. Plus, even is OSs with file managers, you still have to do conversions, different apps make a hash out of each other's docs, etc.
As to the matte screen… Really?! That's all that's holding you back?! Matte screens can dull the image and, unless you're under a host of odd, overhead lights shining at all angles on the screen, you'll have few distracting whatsoever.
Just get one! You'll have a great time enjoying a HUGE range of benefits that easily trump the lack of the two things that concern you!
I really want a 256GB version. I do a lot of reading, so even 128GB is starting to get cramped.
The best(!) file (transfer) managers are as bad as expected. There are dozens of useless file apps. Hint: start with Syncios and GoodReader. This will save you from even greater disappointment.