One of the products we’re expecting to see Apple Inc. (AAPL) take the wraps off in March is the iPad Air 3.
While the possibility of a new 4-inch iPhone tends to capture the headlines, that new iPad just may be the more important of the announcements.
Here’s what we’re expecting Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook to show off come March 15.
The Apple iPad Air 3
While iPhones get all the glory for driving Apple’s phenomenal success, the iPad is Apple’s second largest source of revenue. And rather than facing the threat of a maturing market and declining sales as the iPhone does, the iPad is already taking a hit in a big way, with sales down 25% year-over-year.
The iPad Pro was one attempt to turn the situation around, but the specific market it addresses — professional users — opted for the Microsoft (MSFT) Surface Pro. For most consumers, the iPad Air is the tablet of choice.
The current generation iPad Air hasn’t been updated in nearly a year-and-a-half, but that hasn’t been a huge concern because of the second problem with Apple iPads: people hold on to them for years instead of buying new ones as they do with iPhones.
Apple needs the new iPad Air to be good enough to convince shoppers looking at a
Samsung (SSNLF) Galaxy Tab, Surface 3 or a $49.99 Fire tablet from Amazon (AMZN) to go with its offering instead. Just as critical, the new iPad Air has to offer a compelling reason for all those existing iPad owners to finally trade up from their older iPads and buy an Air 3.
Key Rumored Features of the New iPad Air
There are certain things we’ve come to expect from any Apple release, and a new A-series processor with a big leap in performance is a given.
When Apple released the iPad Air 2, it touted a 40% processing improvement compared to the original iPad Air, with more than double the graphical performance. So expect the iPad Air 3 to use an A9 or A9X CPU and be considerably faster than its predecessor. Beyond that basic assumption, there are several key new features being speculated about on Apple iPad rumor tracking sites:
- Smart Connector
- Rear Camera Flash
- Four Speakers
The Smart Connector is the key feature here. This is a new two-way magnetic interface introduced with the iPad Pro that lets an iPad use accessories while providing them with power. It’s the Smart Connector that makes Apple’s Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro and similar accessories from third parties possible.
Gaining a Smart Connector opens the possibility of consumers being able to use the Air 3 as compact convertible laptop without the hassle of Bluetooth or having to recharge external wireless keyboards. This would make the iPad Air 3 a lot more attractive to students and people who want an all-purpose tablet that can also be used for light work when needed.
Moving to four speakers — another iPad Pro feature — would boost the new iPad Air’s cred when it comes to gaming or watching movies. Adding a rear camera flash doesn’t seem like a big deal, but if you’ve ever been to a museum or indoor event, you’ve likely seen people holding up their tablets to snap photos. Adding a rear LED flash would improve results for those indoor snaps using an iPad Air 3.
These features would come at a cost, namely the iPad Air 3 would remain the same thickness — or possibly even get a fraction of an inch thicker — than the current iPad Air. It’s pretty tough to get thinner when you’re adding new components.
Rumors for these features being included were fuelled by leaked iPad Air 3 protective case prototypes from China that show corresponding cutouts.
Of course manufacturers often take a chance and start prepping iPad and iPhone cases before seeing final products from Apple — companies that have accessories available at launch can reap significant sales before the competition catches up — but including new cutouts in specific locations does suggest this case was more than mere guesswork.
Other rumors of new iPad Air features are long shots. Among them, the potential for Apple Pencil support (which seems unlikely as stylus support is one of the iPad Pro’s key features), a 4K display (the iPad Air already has a sharp Retina display), a boost of RAM to 4GB from the current 2GB, the use of oxide thin film transistor from the 5K iMac and iPad Pro for improved color and brightness consistency and the adoption of 3D Touch from the iPhone 6s (unlikely due to challenges in scaling the technology up to a larger screen).
Finally, based on Apple’s stubborn approach to storage and storage upgrades on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s, expect the iPad Air 3 to keep the same $499 starting price, but also the same 16GB base storage.
Apple is expected to announce the new iPad on March 15. When (and if) that happens, look to InvestorPlace for the details and we’ll all find out just how accurate the Apple rumor mill was this time around.
As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
