New iPad Air 3 remains mystery for Apple iPhone media event

By Will Stabley | September 7, 2015

The iPad Air 3 is still a question mark heading into Apple’s media event this Wednesday, even with the majority of the company’s agenda and lineup seemingly telegraphed in advance. There will be new iPhones. Apple Music will see major stage time. iOS 9 will made its finalized debut. Something will happen with Apple TV. But will the flagship iPad be given an overhaul?

Apple’s history suggests this may go one of two ways. Last year the company held two events, one in September and the other in October, to launch the iPhone and iPad separately. However it has been willing to lump major products into the same event when it’s been called for in the past.

At the heart of the iPad Air 3 conundrum is the industry wide leveling off of tablet sales over the past two years. Apple may try to insulate itself from that trend by launching a fully reimagined flagship iPad with the kinds of new bells and whistles aimed at motivating users to finally upgrade from their early-model iPads which may still be suiting them well. If so, Apple may opt to give the new iPad its own separate event.

On the other hand if Apple is simply launching an incremental new iPad Air 3 aimed at keeping the status quo intact, there may not be a reason to give it an entire separate event, but rather to give it a larger set of eyeballs by including it in the iPhone event, which is sure to attract maximum attention.

To that end, Apple has booked it’s largest capacity venue in years for its September event, suggesting that whatever it’s planning, it’s shooting for the moon. In addition to the question of the iPad Air 3, Apple also faces a similar conundrum with its smaller and cheaper iPad mini 4 debut.