No Apple iPad Air 2 Successor For 2015, But iPad Pro, Mini 4 On Course: Report

As rumors of the bigger iPad Pro, mid-sized iPad Air 3 and the compact iPad Mini 4 are making waves, a brand new report from China has given away key information about Apple’s tablet lineup. As it turns out, there will be no Apple iPad Air 2 successor, or iPad Air 3, planned for this year.

According to Chinese publication Economic Daily News, Apple will not be releasing a successor to the iPad Air 2 in 2015. The news source cites Foxconn’s 2015 orders to confirm this news. Foxconn has reportedly received orders only for the 12.9-inch jumbo version, dubbed Apple iPad Pro and the mini variant Apple iPad Mini 4 with 7.9-inch display. There appears to be no medium-sized tablet for 2015; instead Apple is going for the kill with the bigger iPad Pro.

On the other hand, Phone Arena says Apple is gearing up to release the iPad Pro to be the flagship tablet for 2015. This means the iPad Air 2 successor will be postponed to 2016. If not, the other possibility is to offer a slightly refreshed variant of the iPad Air with minimal configuration change, similar to last year’s iPad Mini 3. Meanwhile, tablet sales have not been significant this year. It is worth noting that a recent DigiTimes report says, “Most tablet players may see difficulties achieving their shipment goals for 2015 or making profits from the product line.”

As far as the key iPad Pro specifications go, the tablet is expected to feature four speakers, which will be located on each corner of the device. To top it off, an additional connector port will apparently be part of the upcoming slate and it is rumored to be the USB Type-C model. In the meantime, the Wall Street Journal reports the iPad Pro will house a stylus in addition to the optional keyboard and mouse. Moreover, Apple is believed to be marketing the iPad Pro for both professional and educational markets, in order to give tough competition to the upcoming Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

Furthermore, the 12.9-inch display clad iPad Pro will reportedly be complemented by 2,732 × 2,048 pixels resolution. Notably, these display dimensions translate to a pixel density of 264 ppi, says MacRumors. But readers should note that Apple has not confirmed the iPad Pro specifications thus far.