Rumor: Leaked 'iPad Air 3' design suggests four speakers, LED flash

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPad
Apple's rumored third-generation iPad Air might adopt not just a quad-speaker design, but also an LED flash for its rear-mounted camera, according to a design illustration shared on Monday.




The source of the information isn't fully reliable, but has previously been accurate in two out of three occasions, said French site Nowhereelse.

Doubling speaker ports would take the Air in the direction of the iPad Pro, giving it both louder sound and true stereo panning. An LED flash may be less likely, since while many people do use iPads for photography and scanning documents, Apple has consciously left flashes off of every previous iPad model -- including the Pro.

Apple may want as many upgrades as possible to entice people to buy the Air. iPad sales have been declining for the past several quarters, and lower-cost Minis are now the most popular size format, although the Air 2 is the best-selling individual model.

A third-gen Air is expected to ship sometime in the first half of 2016. Little else is known about it, though it will presumably play catch-up with the Pro through a faster processor.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 45
    thewhitefalconthewhitefalcon Posts: 4,453member
    Four speakers plus Pencil support and I'll probably go ahead and buy it. My Air's getting a bit long in the tooth. 
    netmagecornchip
  • Reply 2 of 45
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,329member
    sog35 said:
    Without Pencil support I won't be buying this.

    Friken Apple better give us pencil support for iPad Air3. If not it would be another demostration of how ass backwards Tim Cook is running the company.
    Rumor is that you can't have both 3D Touch and Apple Pencil support for technical reasons. Since I now have an iPad Pro, I'm giving away my iPad Air to a friend for her train loving toddler, but, I would be inclined to get an iPad Air 3 if it did have both 3D Touch and Apple Pencil support.
    netmagexiamenbill
  • Reply 3 of 45
    rogifan_oldrogifan_old Posts: 725member
    sog35 said:
    Without Pencil support I won't be buying this.

    Friken Apple better give us pencil support for iPad Air3. If not it would be another demostration of how ass backwards Tim Cook is running the company.
    But wouldn't that just cannibalize the iPad Pro? That's something you're so concerned with when it comes to iPhone. ;)
    Mr_Greydasanman69
  • Reply 4 of 45
    thewhitefalconthewhitefalcon Posts: 4,453member
    rogifan_old said:
    sog35 said:
    Without Pencil support I won't be buying this.

    Friken Apple better give us pencil support for iPad Air3. If not it would be another demostration of how ass backwards Tim Cook is running the company.
    But wouldn't that just cannibalize the iPad Pro? That's something you're so concerned with when it comes to iPhone. ;)
    In this case it fits his personal interest. 
    nolamacguyMr_Greyrogifan_oldnetmagexiamenbillpscooter63
  • Reply 5 of 45
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    It is about time a few rumors hit.    I was greatly disappointed with the lack of an iPad Air update last fall.    All I really want is a machine with the latest processor, 4GB of RAM and 64 GB of flash in the base model,  3D Touch, pencil and that other nonsense means nothing to me.   I want performance.  
  • Reply 6 of 45
    thttht Posts: 5,443member
    Piling on here. If it has Pencil support, getting one for my daughter ASAP. Crossing my fingers. 
    irelandMr_Greynetmagecornchip
  • Reply 7 of 45
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,284member
    thewhitefalcon said:
    Four speakers plus Pencil support and I'll probably go ahead and buy it. My Air's getting a bit long in the tooth. 
    My iPad 2 is has even longer teeth. Eagerly awaiting this update.
    icoco3irelandcornchip
  • Reply 8 of 45
    thewhitefalconthewhitefalcon Posts: 4,453member
    mike1 said:
    thewhitefalcon said:
    Four speakers plus Pencil support and I'll probably go ahead and buy it. My Air's getting a bit long in the tooth. 
    My iPad 2 is has even longer teeth. Eagerly awaiting this update.
    Yeah, I can see where you'd be ready. 
  • Reply 9 of 45
    thewhitefalconthewhitefalcon Posts: 4,453member
    sog35 said:
    rogifan_old said:
    But wouldn't that just cannibalize the iPad Pro? That's something you're so concerned with when it comes to iPhone. ;)
    Huh? I never worried about iPhone6 canibalzing iPhone6+.  The iPad Pro will still have one or two features that the Air won't. But Pencil should NOT be one of those features.
    You were very concerned about the 6 and 6+ canibalizing the 6s series. 
  • Reply 10 of 45
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,284member
    Screen size should not dictate the feature set or capbaility. Screen size itself is a feature that people will evaluate based on their own particularneeds.You should be able to get an iPad in any size with all the features that are available in one size. Pencil support should be universal from this refresh on.
    irelandjetpilotnolamacguyMr_Greynetmage
  • Reply 11 of 45
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    sog35 said:
    But wouldn't that just cannibalize the iPad Pro? That's something you're so concerned with when it comes to iPhone.
    Huh? I never worried about iPhone6 canibalzing iPhone6+.  The iPad Pro will still have one or two features that the Air won't. But Pencil should NOT be one of those features.

    You knew nothing about the iPad Pro or the Pencil a year ago.  Suddenly these are the must have features for the 9.7" form factor?  And if not included, this is evidence Tim Cook knows nothing about running the company?  Really?  It's under Tim Cook we got pencil support in the first place.  How about giving him credit for that first, before splitting on him.  Get real.
    edited January 2016 nolamacguysuddenly newtonrogifan_oldmacky the mackynetmagejbdragoncornchip
  • Reply 12 of 45
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    tmay said:
    Rumor is that you can't have both 3D Touch and Apple Pencil support for technical reasons.

    Bullshit.
  • Reply 13 of 45
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member
    How about Apple Pay so you can receive payments at a Point of Sale.
    netmagexiamenbill
  • Reply 14 of 45
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    sog35 said:
    Without Pencil support I won't be buying this.

    Friken Apple better give us pencil support for iPad Air3. If not it would be another demostration of how ass backwards Tim Cook is running the company.
    How quickly you become entitled to things that you didn't even know existed 5 months ago.
    nolamacguyradarthekatmacky the mackynetmageevilutionxiamenbill
  • Reply 15 of 45
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member

    You knew nothing about the iPad Pro or the Pencil a year ago. Suddenly these are the must have features for the 9.7" form factor?
    Yes they are for him. He knows about the Pencil now. I'd bet money it'll get Pencil support. If Apple doesn't give it Pencil support it'll be to make the Pro seem artificially more attractive to push buyers to higher price points. This thinking is killing Apple. And it has Schiller written all over it. Apple are quite simply too greedy. I believe it's tarnishing their brand. €114 to cover the front and rear of an iPad mini 4? Schiller is out of his gourd. Personally I think even the iPad mini 5 should get Pencil support and going forward iPads should add 3D Touch too. The idea is to make all these devices attractive, not just to always be only concerned about pushing people to higher price points which ends up crippling smaller devices. That's not how you make the best devices. That's short term vision stuff.
    edited January 2016 Mr_Greywiggin
  • Reply 16 of 45
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    I might pick one up to compliment my iPad Pro.  Won't need the 128GB -  16GB or 32GB will do and will probably just do wifi and leverage the Pad or the iPhone for hotspot. It's crazy how much less I use my MBP now with the Pro. 
    radarthekat
  • Reply 17 of 45
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    ireland said:

    You knew nothing about the iPad Pro or the Pencil a year ago. Suddenly these are the must have features for the 9.7" form factor?
    Yes they are for him. He knows about the Pencil now. I'd bet money it'll get Pencil support. If Apple doesn't give it Pencil support it'll be to make the Pro seem artificially more attractive to push buyers to higher price points. This thinking is killing Apple. And it has Schiller written all over it. Apple are quite simply too greedy. I believe it's tarnishing their brand. €114 to cover the front and rear of an iPad mini 4? Schiller is out of his gourd. Personally I think even the iPad mini 5 should get Pencil support and going forward iPads should add 3D Touch too. The idea is to make all these devices attractive, not just to always be only concerned about pushing people to higher price points which ends up crippling smaller devices. That's not how you make the best devices. That's short term vision stuff.
    you're speaking about things not even rumored as if they were fact. how strange. 

    also, nothing is killing Apple. rather, Apple is killing it. 
    macky the mackynetmagepscooter63cornchip
  • Reply 18 of 45
    Mr_GreyMr_Grey Posts: 118member
    crowley said:
    sog35 said:
    Without Pencil support I won't be buying this.

    Friken Apple better give us pencil support for iPad Air3. If not it would be another demostration of how ass backwards Tim Cook is running the company.
    How quickly you become entitled to things that you didn't even know existed 5 months ago.
    In all fairness, people have been adamantly interested in styluses for iPad since the very first day it was released.  We've also waited five long years for Apple to implement a proper, native solution.  

    It would indeed be a tragedy (and also give Apple some bad press no doubt) if pencil support isn't immediately added to at least the iPads if not all iOS devices.  They shouldn't have dangled the iPad Pro in front of us if they weren't prepared to face the army of people who will now want pencil support for their chosen device.  Tim Cook could actually be described as kind of incompetent if they truly didn't see this coming.  

    I feel confident that the iPad Pro was actually something closer to a technology demo than a real product and that now that it's out of the way, the technology should soon appear in the iPad and iPad mini.  I'm so glad that so many others seem to be of the same mind.  
    xiamenbillcornchip
  • Reply 19 of 45
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    sog35 said:
    tmay said:
    sog35 said:
    Without Pencil support I won't be buying this.

    Friken Apple better give us pencil support for iPad Air3. If not it would be another demostration of how ass backwards Tim Cook is running the company.
    Rumor is that you can't have both 3D Touch and Apple Pencil support for technical reasons. Since I now have an iPad Pro, I'm giving away my iPad Air to a friend for her train loving toddler, but, I would be inclined to get an iPad Air 3 if it did have both 3D Touch and Apple Pencil support.
    I don't care about 3d touch on such a huge screen. Give me pencil support. Its called a Pad after all.  Pad+Pencil
    Say hello to ... The "iPad Pro Mini"  :D
  • Reply 20 of 45
    Mr_GreyMr_Grey Posts: 118member

    ireland said:
    .... €114 to cover the front and rear of an iPad mini 4? Schiller is out of his gourd. ...
    My favourite is the new double price AppleTV that in some ways doesn't do as much as the old one, and the very fragile $100 remote that goes with it.  

    And yet back at Apple headquarters ...


Sign In or Register to comment.