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

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.

45 Comments

thewhitefalcon 4444 comments · 10 Years

About 8 years ago

Four speakers plus Pencil support and I'll probably go ahead and buy it. My Air's getting a bit long in the tooth.

tmay 6455 comments · 11 Years

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.

rogifan_old 725 comments · 9 Years

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. ;)

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.

wizard69 13358 comments · 21 Years

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.