When is the new iPad Air 3 (or iPad 7) coming out?

Macworld gathers all the rumours about Apple's next iPad (the seventh-generation full-size iPad), its new features and specs, design changes and more. Plus: iPad Air 3 features wish list.

 

 

When is the new iPad Air 3 coming out? I know it's only been a couple of months since the launch of the iPad Air 2, but I'm already looking forward to the next iPad Air launch date in 2015. Also, what new features, specs and design changes can we expect in the iPad Air 3?
The iPad Air 2 was unveiled at Apple's special launch event on 16 October, but we're already looking ahead to the launch of the iPad Air 3 (assuming that's what Apple calls its next full-size iPad - other possibilities include the iPad 7 and the New iPad). It's early days for the iPad Air 3 just yet, but as rumours circulate and information leaks out, we will regularly update this article with everything you need to know about the new iPad Air 3: its design, features, size and specifications, the differences between the next-gen iPad Air 3 and the current iPad Air 2, the iPad Air 3's UK launch date and UK price, and much, much more.


Welcome to our iPad Air 3 rumours article, discussing the latest hints on the iPad Air 3's release date, specs and UK price. In this article we will present all the available information, rumours and clues about the new iPad Air 2014, including the iPad Air 3 release date, new features in the iPad Air 3, and images of the iPad Air 3 - both concept illustrations and leaked photos as they emerge. (None have emerged yet, unfortunately, so for the time being we will illustrate this article with images of the iPad Air 2.) We will also analyse the iPad Air 3 rumours for their credibility based on our long experience of Apple launches.
Information on the iPad Air 3 is pretty thin on the ground just yet - the iPad Air 2 was only launched in October 2014, after all - so check back regularly for the latest updates. Our latest addition is an iPad Air 3 features wish list.

iPad Air 3 release date rumours: When will the new iPad Air 3 come out?

The iPad Air 3 is very likely to be unveiled in October 2015.
The iPad Air 2 was unveiled to journalists at Apple's Cupertino campus in California on 16 October (and simultaneously to European writers in Berlin). The iPad Air 1 was announced on 22 October 2013, and released at the start of November. This is Apple's standard iPad release schedule. 
When will the iPad Air 3 go on sale in the UK? There's usually a delay of around 10 days between the announcement and the devices going on sale, so expect the iPad Air 3 to hit UK shops in late October 2015 or early November.

iPad Air 3 release date rumours: Design

Last time around Apple tweaked the design of the iPad Air 1 rather than totally reimagining it. That already-slender device was trimmed down: at 6.1mm thick, the iPad Air 2 is the slenderest tablet Apple has yet produced, and significantly thinner than the 7.5mm-thick iPad Air 1.
Indeed, the successive reductions in depth from generation to generation mean the iPad Air 2 reached a milestone: it is half the thickness of the original iPad.

It's possible that Apple will repeat the trick on the iPad Air 3, but that seems a little unnecessary - how much lighter and thinner does a tablet need to be? We've also started having slight worries about flex on the iPad Air 2: it's not fragile, but there's just enough give, and it feels just delicate enough, that we'd be nervous about its toughness if any more of the body was trimmed off.

iPad Air 3 release date rumours: Processor and speed

The iPad Air 2 got a new processor chip, the A8X - a souped-up version of the iPhone 6's A8. This has three billion transistors and offers (Apple says) 40 percent faster performance than the iPad Air 1's A7 chip in most apps and up to 2.5x graphics performance. 
Offering a historical perspective (if four years counts as history), Apple pointed out that the iPad Air 2 is capable of up to 12 times faster processing than the iPad 1 (the first-gen iPad, that is, not the iPad Air 1!), and a staggering 180 times faster graphics.
It would be a big shock if Apple didn't upgrade the processor again when it launches the iPad Air 3, and it doesn't take a genius to predict that the iPad Air 3's chip will be an A9 or an A9X, and very speedy indeed. Given the near-overkill of the iPad Air 2's power, mind you, it might make sense for Apple to focus more on power efficiency than on sheer processing welly, and try to improve battery life.