According to Japanese site, Mac Otakara, who carries an accuracy track record of 64.5% according to AppleTrack, the next-gen iPad Air will keep its design that’s similar to the third-gen iPad Pro.
Citing a “Chinese supplier,” they say they told them “that the next iPad Air (5th generation) is likely to be based on the iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) chassis.” They go on to report that the fifth-gen iPad Air will continue to feature a 10.9-inch display, Touch ID on the side, with the rear camera gaining a dual-lens camera system with a wide-angle camera and an ultra-wide angle camera.
The Japanese website also mentions the possibility of a LiDAR Scanner on the upcoming iPad Air, although, they “don’t know for sure.” Other features include 4-speaker audio and 5G NR mmWave support.
They expect the fifth-gen iPad Air to feature an A15 chip. No mention of when we can expect this device to drop in today’s rumor, but previous info suggests a launch as early as 2022.
While earlier reports mentioned the possibility of an OLED display, today’s report has no mention of that. In earlier reports, Apple is said to be working on an iPad Air-sized iPad with an OLED display. The iPad Air is expected to use OLED technology while the iPad Pro line will stick with mini-LED technology.
Okay, now we get to the part where Mac Otakara says “fu*k all your fancy renders, FPT.”
According to Macaroni and Cheese (Mac Otakara), the “Chinese supplier,” that they’ve been in contact with since January of this year, say that the iPad mini 6 will have an 8.4-inch display and the ninth-gen iPad could be based on the third-gen iPad Air, but their latest information suggest that neither the iPad ninth-gen nor the iPad mini 6 “seem to be any different from the iPad (8th Generation) and iPad mini (5th Generation).” Okay.
I should also mention this kind of clashes with the information put out by display analyst, Ross Young, who has a 100% accuracy track record, just yesterday. Not to mention this totally clashes with what we gave you back in mid-June, Bloomberg, and reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via investor note obtained by MacRumors.)
The Mac Otakara article ends with the possibility that the current A12 chip will be updated to the A14 chip, and the chassis design may not be changed until 2022 or later.
But seriously, take everything with a grain of butt hair.
