The next iPad, the iPad Air 3, could have four speakers like the iPad Pro, according to notorious French gadget leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer on his site Nowhereelse.fr, via MacRumors.
The rumors are based on a leaked sketch of the back of the supposed iPad Air 3. They're not definitive by any means, but the sketch's source is fairly reliable, according to Hemmerstoffer.
Like on the iPad Pro, the speakers could be on the top and bottom of the iPad Air 3 (held in the vertical portrait mode), making for better stereo audio while watching videos, playing games, or simply listening to music.
The current iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4 have speakers on the bottom beneath the Home button.
The sketch also shows a flash underneath the rear camera, making it the first iPad with a camera flash.
While stereo audio and a flash are "nice to have" on an iPad, those are hardly features that will make people drop their current iPads to buy a new one.
For example, we saw last year that people are still holding on to their iPad 2, which launched in 2011. Even older iPads are still good for basics like web browsing and watching videos.
Not much else is known about the iPad Air 2's successor. It's expected to come with some spec upgrades, like an A9 processor for speed performance, and some rumors have pointed to a new screen that will show better colors. Apart from that, it's still a mystery device.
It's also unclear if the iPad Air 3 will have 3D Touch, the pressure-sensitive screen that first debuted in the iPhone 6s.
According to MacRumors, we might see the iPad Air 3 at a March Apple event, where we'll also reportedly see a new 4-inch iPhone 5se and some software updates to the Apple Watch.
