iPad Air 3 Release Date, News and Rumors: Is New iPad Pro the iPad Air 3?

Now that the Apple Event slated on March 21 is over, the internet is buzzing with the latest release of new iPhone SE. However, despite speculations, Apple launched an iPad Pro instead of iPad Air 3 which came as a surprise to many. Does that mean iPad Air line-up is discontinued?

The new iPad Pro with a 9.7-inch screen is a definite improvement from its last model, in terms of design tweaks and specs.

According to the event announcement, the new iPad Pro will be available for preorder on March 24 and will be hitting the stores by March 31. Powered by the latest Apple A9X processor chip, it has a 9.7-inch screen with a retina display sporting 2048x1536 pixel display. It also has the latest 12 MP iSight camera. The iPad model will be available in 4-color variants - Silver, Gold, Space Grey and Rose Gold and comes in three storage capacities, 32, 128 and 256 GB.

Even though the people were expecting an iPad Air 3, what Apple launched was a smaller iPad Pro. "It's a large enough display to get your work done, but small enough to take every with you" said Phil Schiller, senior vice president. He also added that the company sold as many as 200 million iPads worldwide with 9.7-inch screen.

The "majority of people are coming to iPad Pro from Windows", added Schiller, referring to iPad Pro as the "ultimate PC replacement".

However, to say that iPad Air line-up is discontinued is still not sure yet. Rumors say that Air 3 will come sometime in fall and will be a massive improvement from its last version to increase the sales.

iPad is no stranger to the tablet industry suffering a downward turn. The Cupertino-based tech giant is hoping to change the sinking trend and reinstate the buyer's interest to fend off competition from Microsoft Surface Pro 4. While it is largely speculated that the latest iPad Pro replaced the iPad Air line, but the rumored launch of Air 3 is attributed to low sales of iPad Pro's 12.7-inch screen tablet.