It’s been over two years since the iPad Air 2 launched. Here are the rumours about the iPad Air 3 price, specs and release date in the UK.
When is the iPad Air 3 coming out? Apple launched the excellent iPad Pro 9.7, reviewed back in March 2016 which brought the 10-inch iPad bang up to date, but this put a question mark over the iPad Air range. And given that there have been no leaks about a new 7.9in iPad, there are also doubts about the iPad mini range. Will Apple only launch iPad Pros from now on? That seems very unlikely, but here we round up all the rumours about the iPad Air 3 price, specs and release date in the UK. See also: Best tablet 2017.
Update 27 February: A recent report by Mac Otakara says the firm will stick with the rumoured schedule and announce four new iPad Pro models: 7.9-in, 9.7-in, 10.5-in and 12.9-in models. The 10.5-inch model may not ship until May, while other sizes are said to ship at the end of March. The 9.7in is very likely to be the iPad Air 3, but whether or not this report’s source is credible is another matter. We’ll have to wait and see.
Some US stores are said to be out of stock of certain iPad Air 2 models, leading to more rumours that Apple will indeed launch an Air 3 in March. However, this could be simply a co-incidence and is not enough to persuade us that the purported delays ( read more below ) aren’t believable.
Back in August 2016, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted three new iPads, and has recently revised those predictions slightly. Below a summary of what he expects Apple to launch in 2017.
Could the 9.7in model be the iPad Air 3? The report, posted by MacRumours, says that the ‘low-cost’ model will use the A9 chip. This makes sense: use the previous generation chip from the current iPad Pro models (or even the iPhone 6S) but drop the price (and probably some other features).
The big question is ‘has Apple has killed off the iPad Air range?’. Is the iPad Pro 9.7 effectively the iPad Air 3? That’s a difficult question to answer but Apple certainly hasn’t said anything to suggest that the Pro is the Air’s replacement.
