Apple's 'iPad Air 3' won't get 3D Touch for March 2016 debut, 'iPhone 7' on track for September, in

AppleInsider

The next generation of Apple's market-defining tablet is unlikely to gain the pressure-sensitive technology introduced with the iPhone 6s, according to a research note from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

The so-called "iPad Air 3" will eschew 3D Touch for primarily practical reasons, according to a note published early Tuesday by Kuo. He believes that the 3D Touch supply chain -- currently thought to be below 30 percent utilization -- would not be able to meet the demand.

Kuo called 3D Touch "one of the most severe production bottlenecks in iPhone 6s supply chain."

In any event, Apple still reportedly plans to refresh the 9.7-inch iPad line next spring. That introduction could come as early as March, Kuo wrote.

There is no word on whether Apple would choose to provide an update on the Watch at the same time.

On the iPhone front, Kuo predicts that the iPhone 7 will maintain the same technical architecture introduced in the iPhone 6s vis-a-vis 3D Touch. The company is expected to continue its traditional fall rollout schedule for the world's most popular smartphone, meaning a likely September debut.

ireland

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd say Pencil support is likely as they'll want to offer upgrade features to woo newer iPad holdouts.

lkrupp

We rant on here about how analysts manipulate AAPL. Don’t rumors like this do the same thing? The new iPad won’t have 3D touch? The next iPhone will ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack? iPhone sales are slipping? Articles like this are almost always fodder for the usual suspects who will fan the flames with, “If this new iPad doesn’t have 3D Touch I’m not buying it. I will switch to Android!” 

If we excoriate analysts for this then why not rumor sites like AI, MacRumors, et al? 

edited December 2015

thataveragejoe

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd guess probably not. That's what helps differentiate the Pro. Using that extra real estate to be the proper canvas. Just like the OIS remains in the Plus phone only. 

rogifan_old

There very well could be engineering issues around implementing 3D Touch on a much larger display. Or getting it to play nicely with iPad Pro. But an iPad Air 3 that's just a spec bump seems kind of pointless. I use my Air 2 every day and while it's not as smooth ad the iPad Pro, especially with slide over and split view, it's fine for 99% of the stuff I do with it. The Air 2 didn't get a price drop last year. I think getting rid of the Air 1 and dropping the price of the Air 2 by $100 would spur more sales than an Air 3 with a spec bump. Save the next Air for the fall.

rogifan_old

There very well could be engineering issues around implementing 3D Touch on a much larger display. Or getting it to play nicely with iPad Pro. But an iPad Air 3 that's just a spec bump seems kind of pointless. I use my Air 2 every day and while it's not as smooth ad the iPad Pro, especially with slide over and split view, it's fine for 99% of the stuff I do with it. The Air 2 didn't get a price drop last year. I think getting rid of the Air 1 and dropping the price of the Air 2 by $100 would spur more sales than an Air 3 with a spec bump. Save the next Air for the fall.

satchmo

ireland said:

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd say Pencil support is likely as they'll want to offer upgrade features to woo newer iPad holdouts.

I would love this feature on the smaller iPad, but wondering if this might kill higher margin (?) iPad Pro sales. 

An iPad Air 3 would likely get a speed bump as well. So does size alone give an iPad a 'pro' moniker? 

thewhitefalcon

rogifan_old said:

There very well could be engineering issues around implementing 3D Touch on a much larger display. Or getting it to play nicely with iPad Pro. But an iPad Air 3 that's just a spec bump seems kind of pointless. I use my Air 2 every day and while it's not as smooth ad the iPad Pro, especially with slide over and split view, it's fine for 99% of the stuff I do with it. The Air 2 didn't get a price drop last year. I think getting rid of the Air 1 and dropping the price of the Air 2 by $100 would spur more sales than an Air 3 with a spec bump. Save the next Air for the fall.

Pushing the Air 3 to 3GB (or 4) of RAM would be a nice futureproof. 2GB's enough for SplitView for now, but only barely in some instances. They could also redesign the chassis to eliminate the speaker vibrations, which would be nice. 

rogifan_old

thataveragejoe said:

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd guess probably not. That's what helps differentiate the Pro. Using that extra real estate to be the proper canvas. Just like the OIS remains in the Plus phone only. 

I have a feeling the Pencil is going to stay Pro for a while. And honestly having used the Pro for a month and a half now I would definitely spend the extra and get it over an Air. It's not that much heavier and the extra screen real estate is so worth it. This is what split view was meant for.

rob55

Great, I was this close (holds thumb and forefinger 1/2 inch apart) to buying the iPad Air 2. And as much I don't trust Kuo's predictions, I saw this article the other day http://www.cultofmac.com/273923/ming-chi-kuo/  

mike1

satchmo said:

ireland said:

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd say Pencil support is likely as they'll want to offer upgrade features to woo newer iPad holdouts.

I would love this feature on the smaller iPad, but wondering if this might kill higher margin (?) iPad Pro sales. 

An iPad Air 3 would likely get a speed bump as well. So does size alone give an iPad a 'pro' moniker? 

I don't think an Air3 with Pencil support would hurt Pro sales. The bigger screen is the major draw. The Air3 should really be the Pro with a smaller screen. It would certainly appeal to existing iPad owners looking to upgrade but who find the 9.7" screen ideal.

thewhitefalcon

rob55 said:

Great, I was this close (holds thumb and forefinger 1/2 inch apart) to buying the iPad Air 2. And as much I don't trust Kuo's predictions, I saw this article the other day http://www.cultofmac.com/273923/ming-chi-kuo/  

Most of the times Ming Chi is right, it's an obvious guess. He does a lot of those to raise his averages. 

rob55

thewhitefalcon said:

rob55 said:

Great, I was this close (holds thumb and forefinger 1/2 inch apart) to buying the iPad Air 2. And as much I don't trust Kuo's predictions, I saw this article the other day http://www.cultofmac.com/273923/ming-chi-kuo/  

Most of the times Ming Chi is right, it's an obvious guess. He does a lot of those to raise his averages. 

Yes, I figured it was something like that.

cali

Rumors? This guy's job is easy as once the products release we forget all about prior speculation.

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

This Kuo guy is a clown.  I could do his job.

1. say iPhone7 is coming out in Sept - wow what a shocker.
2. say the iPad air 3 won't have force touch. No duh.  The much more expensive iPad Pro does not have force touch, why would the cheaper Air have it.

I've said it several times here, I don't think Apple will hand down iPad Pro features anytime soon. The Penicil feels natural on the large "drawing board". This is what the iPad Pro is, no reason to give that away for little return, iPad Pro staying unique vs. giving that away to please the small amount of people who want an Air for Pencil use.

schlack

i think the iPad 3 will def get pencil support. apple needs to differentiate it from the iPad 2, and they need something qualitatively different. a spec bump is not enough. furthermore, that $99 pencil is going to have great profit margins for them...maybe not yet...but as production smooths out...it will be killer. plus there will be people who will work both on the Pro and on a regular iPad and they will want to use their Pencil on both.

edited December 2015

thataveragejoe

satchmo said:

ireland said:

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd say Pencil support is likely as they'll want to offer upgrade features to woo newer iPad holdouts.

I would love this feature on the smaller iPad, but wondering if this might kill higher margin (?) iPad Pro sales. 

An iPad Air 3 would likely get a speed bump as well. So does size alone give an iPad a 'pro' moniker? 

Margin is absolutely a consideration here. Maybe Air 4 gets it, but I really doubt Air 3 does, unless the Air 3 price goes up. No way will Apple sacrifice margin on the Pro for squeezing margins on the Air by adding a significant component to the screen that has costs and keep the price the same, yet. Something has to give one way or the other. My bet is still it stays on the Pro only for now. 

mike1

satchmo said:

ireland said:

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd say Pencil support is likely as they'll want to offer upgrade features to woo newer iPad holdouts.

I would love this feature on the smaller iPad, but wondering if this might kill higher margin (?) iPad Pro sales. 

An iPad Air 3 would likely get a speed bump as well. So does size alone give an iPad a 'pro' moniker? 

I don't think adding Pencil support to an Air3 would hurt Pro sales. People buy a Pro for the screen size not the Pencil. The Air3 should really be the Pro with a smaller screen.

shameermulji

satchmo said:

ireland said:

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd say Pencil support is likely as they'll want to offer upgrade features to woo newer iPad holdouts.

I would love this feature on the smaller iPad, but wondering if this might kill higher margin (?) iPad Pro sales. 

An iPad Air 3 would likely get a speed bump as well. So does size alone give an iPad a 'pro' moniker? 

It isn't just size. As mentioned before it's the stereo speakers, Pencil / Smart KB support, plus the big increase in processing power & RAM, which if developers take advantage of, will enable a whole class of iPad apps that won't be possible on the iPad Air.

shameermulji

satchmo said:

ireland said:

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd say Pencil support is likely as they'll want to offer upgrade features to woo newer iPad holdouts.

I would love this feature on the smaller iPad, but wondering if this might kill higher margin (?) iPad Pro sales. 

An iPad Air 3 would likely get a speed bump as well. So does size alone give an iPad a 'pro' moniker? 

It isn't just screen size. Like others have mentioned, it's also stereo speakers, Pencil / Smart KB support, and also a significant increase in RAM / processing power, which if developers take advantage of, will enable a class of apps that aren't possible on the iPad Air / Air 2.

shameermulji

satchmo said:

ireland said:

sog35 said:

what about Pencil support?

I'd say Pencil support is likely as they'll want to offer upgrade features to woo newer iPad holdouts.

I would love this feature on the smaller iPad, but wondering if this might kill higher margin (?) iPad Pro sales. 

An iPad Air 3 would likely get a speed bump as well. So does size alone give an iPad a 'pro' moniker? 

It isn't just screen size. Like others have mentioned, it's also stereo speakers, Pencil / Smart KB support, and also a significant increase in RAM / processing power, which if developers take advantage of, will enable a class of apps that aren't possible on the iPad Air / Air 2.

evilution

They can't just increase the speed and expect people to upgrade.