Despite the increasing belief that the iPad Air range might have died already, speculations appear that Apple may be designing an iPad Air 3 which could be budget-friendly but will offer features like True Tone, IP68 and 3D Touch among others. The next iPad Air could be the mid-range tablet offer from Apple.

The iPad Air 2 was released on October 2014, and it's been two years since we last heard about the tablet range. With the rise of iPad Pro, people believed that the shift would be towards the new tablet line. But a certain problem is that the iPad Pro is too expensive, and Apple needs to compete on the mid-range market as well.

As for the possible specifications, the basic will definitely be a 9.7 inch iPad Air 3, similar to its predecessor, only thinner and lighter. According to Tech Radar, consumers can't expect that the iPad Air 3 will divert away from the current physical design. There could be color options for the iPad 3, similar to the Jet Black and Pearl White variants we've been hearing about - and a Deep Red variant that is expected on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

It is believed that chip problems have caused the delays for the next launch, but with the recent ARM chips produced by Apple, we can expect the iPad Air 3 to be launched with iPad Pro 2. Speculations also reveal that an IP68 certification could be featured on the next iPads - which means they will be waterproof and dust proof similar to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

In terms of screen improvements, it is highly possible that the iPad Air 3 will have True Tone and 3D Touch which is a similar feature on the iPad Pro. But this is quite debatable, as Apple needs to trim down the features if they intend to make the next iPad Air a mid-range device.

Tech Radar reported that the iPad Air 3 will be launched between April and June of 2017. It may be sold for around $499 for a 32GB Wi-Fi only model.