UPDATED 07:12 EST / DECEMBER 01 2014

Apple rumor: “iPad Air Plus” will have a 12.2” screen, available April 2015

ipad airDespite of a slowdown in tablet sales for 2014 and a negative growth forecast for the iPad by the International Data Corporation (IDC), Apple Inc. is hell-bent on releasing new models of the iPad at an ever-increasing pace. The latest model rumored to be in the pipeline is the Apple “iPad Air Plus”.

A leaked report, published on Friday in Japanese magazine Mac Fan, and picked up by Macotakara, shows what appears to be schematics and specs of Apple’s next iPad. The drawings show the tablet will sport a 12.2” LCD display and have dimensions of 305.31mm x 220.8mm x 7mm, or 12.2” x 8.7” x 0.28”. This is not far off from previous rumors of a 12.9” iPad from Apple.

Dubbed the “iPad Pro” or “iPad Air Plus” by Mac Fan, the device is said to feature a new A9 processor, which is an upgrade from the A8X processor the iPad Air 2 ships with. Other features listed by the report are dual top/bottom and left/right speakers, which will give the new iPad Air Plus stereo surround sound no matter which way the device is turned, and design features very similar to those of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini.

In the same report, Mac Fan tells us that Apple has an iPad mini 4 in the works and that it will feature the same A8X processor as the iPad Air 2 and a slimmer design –again in line with the design of the latest iPad Air 2. The biggest bombshell in Mac Fan’s report is the news that Apple will discontinue both the iPad mini and the iPad mini 3 at the launch of the iPad mini 4.

According to the report, both the iPad Air Plus and the iPad mini 4 will launch between April and June 2015.

photo credit: TechStage via photopin cc

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