iPad Air 3 Could Feature Four Speakers and Rear-Facing LED Flash

The next-generation iPad Air 3 could adopt the iPad Pro's four-speaker design and gain an LED flash next to the rear-facing camera, according to leaked design drawings shared with French website Nowhereelse.fr. The website cannot fully guarantee the veracity of the sketches, but the report does mention its source has been reliable on two out of three occasions in the past.

ipad-air-3-plans-ipad-7
If the design drawings prove to be true, the iPad Air 3 would have two speakers on both the top and bottom of the tablet like the iPad Pro. The inclusion of rear-facing LED flash seems more trivial, since the iPad is not a camera device in the traditional sense, but some owners do use the tablet to take photos, and Apple may be looking for ways to combat declining iPad sales.

Apple is rumored to announce the iPad Air 3 at a March media event, possibly alongside a new 4-inch iPhone and Apple Watch updates. Little is known about the iPad Air 3, beyond a report saying it will lack 3D Touch, but plausible updates could include a faster A9 or A9X processor, Oxide TFT display, Smart Connector and improved cameras.

Oxide TFT display technology would allow for more uniform color and brightness, and improved contrast, on the iPad Air 3. The tablet could also adopt the iPad Pro's variable refresh rate technology to preserve power when static images are on the screen, enabling the iPad Air 3 to have longer battery life.

Apple has not updated its 9.7-inch tablet since releasing the iPad Air 2 in October 2014.

Top Rated Comments

dvkid Avatar
108 months ago
If they add support for the Pencil, that would sell it for me.

Force Touch hasn't been a cornerstone feature for me personally, and I can see there being some challenged implementing it on a bigger screen.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Deuce on the Clock Avatar
108 months ago
the controlled leak rumours are really starting to come fast and thick..!
Thin, always thin
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0003462 Avatar
108 months ago
If they waste the effort to put a flash into this thing just to encourage the positive feedback loop that is People Taking Photos with iPads, I'm going to walk out of the room.
The camera is also an input method. Scanning barcodes, documents and credit cards in lowlight environments will be easier with a flash.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BMcCoy Avatar
108 months ago
the controlled leak rumours are really starting to come fast and thick..!
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PlutoPrime Avatar
108 months ago
Ah, so people holding up their iPads to take pictures with their crappy camera can turn on a tiny, useless LED light, too?
iPad isn't designed for you or me. It's designed for everyone. It's a multi-tool. To be used in caves, in hospitals, schools, on the couch. Eventually, they'll be shoving 100000000 sensors into it to make it the ultimate general purpose large screen computing device & companion (same with your phone, and watch at their respective form factors). It's a lot cheaper for them to have 1-design with all these features that fits tons of use cases, than give you a custom SKU of iPad with no LED flash because you don't use it.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mascots Avatar
108 months ago
If they waste the effort to put a flash into this thing just to encourage the positive feedback loop that is People Taking Photos with iPads, I'm going to walk out of the room.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro FineWoven

Apple Reportedly Stops Production of FineWoven Accessories

Sunday April 21, 2024 6:03 am PDT by
Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories, according to the Apple leaker and prototype collector known as "Kosutami." In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kosutami explained that Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories due to its poor durability. The company may move to another non-leather material for its premium accessories in the future. Kosutami has revealed...
Provenance Emulator

PlayStation and SEGA Emulator for iPhone and Apple TV Coming to App Store [Updated]

Friday April 19, 2024 8:29 am PDT by
The lead developer of the multi-emulator app Provenance has told iMore that his team is working towards releasing the app on the App Store, but he did not provide a timeframe. Provenance is a frontend for many existing emulators, and it would allow iPhone and Apple TV users to emulate games released for a wide variety of classic game consoles, including the original PlayStation, SEGA Genesis,...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
apple vision pro orange

Apple Vision Pro Customer Interest Dying Down at Some Retail Stores

Monday April 22, 2024 2:12 am PDT by
Apple Vision Pro, Apple's $3,500 spatial computing device, appears to be following a pattern familiar to the AR/VR headset industry – initial enthusiasm giving way to a significant dip in sustained interest and usage. Since its debut in the U.S. in February 2024, excitement for the Apple Vision Pro has noticeably cooled, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On...