Possible Apple iPad Air 3 schematic takes cues from the iPad Pro

Last year came and went without bringing us a new standard-sized iPad option. Sure we got the new iPad Pro, as well as a refreshed iPad mini 4, but nothing new in the 9.7-inch space. But while the presumed iPad Air 3’s remained elusive, we have managed to hear a little about what we might expect from the tablet when it finally does launch, including maybe a big resolution bump, or a ton of extra RAM – even if we don’t get 3D Touch. With multiple sources pointing to an H1 2016 launch, this new iPad Air could be right around the corner – so when are we going to get some more definitive intel on the tablet? Well, we’re not yet sure how much faith we should be placing in this new find, but a recently published schematic may reveal at least a few changes Apple’s working on for the hardware.


If this layout is to be trusted, Apple’s setting out to make an iPad Air 3 that’s capable of sounding nearly as good as the iPad Pro, giving the tablet its own quad-speaker design. Just like the larger tablet, the iPad Air 3 could place a pair of speakers at the corners of each of the tablet’s short edges, helping ensure rich sound no matter in which orientation the model’s held.

The other change visible here, and one that’s a bit surprising, is what appears to be an LED flash for the tablet’s camera. Say what you will about the appropriateness of using a tablet as a camera, but while Apple’s given its iPad models rear cameras over the years, we haven’t seen it put a flash on anything bigger than the latest Plus-sized iPhones.

Assuming this actually happens for the iPad Air 3, will we soon see LED flashes spread to the rear cameras on other future iPad models? Like we said, right now it’s not clear just how trustworthy the info contained in this leak is, so we might want to hold off on that kind of speculation at least until a little corroboration can be found.