Apple may release iPad Air 3 or iPad Pro 2 (7.9-inch) in 2016

This year, Apple released a smaller sibling of its coveted 12.9-inch iPad Pro instead of the highly anticipated iPad Air 3. Previously, it was believed that Apple would refresh its iPad Air lineup in March 2016.

The recent rumours mill indicates that later this year, Apple will add another member to its iPad Pro family, a 7.9-inch iPad Pro. The tablet may also be named as the iPad Pro 2 or iPad Pro mini, as reported by Mac World.

Apple released its 12.9-inch iPad Pro at its annual fall event in September 2015 and introduced the 9.7-inch variant within six months. The Mac World report also suggests that the tech giant might consider refreshing its iPad mini line-up, which has been consistently upgraded over the past few years.

Related: Apple iPad mini 5 release date: See speculated specs and features

However, contradictory speculations hint at a possible release of Apple iPad Air 3, the successor to the much appreciated iPad Air 2, with considerably overhauled specs and features including an Apple A9X chip set.

For the past couple of months, there have been rumours that Apple might phase out its Air brand across the board. This year, the Apple MacBook Pro 2016 series may also replace the MacBook Air lineup.

A blog post titled “Apple has probably killed the Air brand” by Jack March hints that Apple would probably give up its Air brand for MacBooks.

In related news, Apple is widely speculated to unveil its new 13-inch and 15-inch models of MacBook Pro at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2016.

Moreover, the refreshed MacBook Pro 2016 lineup is believed to be run by Intel’s latest Skylake processors, coupled with a massive 256GB of in-built storage space. The next generation of MacBook Pro will reportedly come packed with Retina Display, more RAM, multiple USB Type-C ports as well as Thunderbolt 3.