Cases for the Illusive iPad Air 3 Surface Revealing Features Similar to iPad Pro

With a slew of recent rumors suggesting that Apple’s forthcoming ‘iPad Air 3’ will feature design elements consistent with those of the company’s larger, 12.9-inch iPad Pro, perhaps it’s not a huge shocker that some Far East case manufacturers are ramping up production of cases featuring various slots to accommodate those elements just weeks ahead of the new iPad’s anticipated debut.

As a matter of fact, several Chinese case manufacturers have already begun listing their 9.7-inch ‘iPad Air 3’ cases — also known as the 9.7-inch ‘iPad Pro’, on the popular trading site Alibaba, boasting external cutouts that can accommodate features like the larger iPad’s beloved 4-speaker system, as well as a Smart Connector port.

In addition, according to photos originally obtained by iGeneration, the new casings appear to feature an enlarged teardrop-shaped cutout around back where the camera is supposedly positioned — all but confirming, as speculated, that the company may be employing an LED camera flash on the forthcoming device.

The device has also been rumored to feature a 12 MP rear camera like that of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, however we’ll gladly take that rumor with an extra large grain of salt until further notice.

The device will also supposedly feature support for its own, specially designed Smart Keyboard, and also boast Apple Pencil functionality.

On the inside, it’s long been speculated that the device will feature internal components constituent with its big brother, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro — including Apple’s powerful 2.26GHz dual-core A9X chip, 4 GB of RAM, and, we’re hoping, a larger battery.

As is generally the case when Apple products near the end of their life cycle, and with the refresh looming on the not too distant horizon, many of Apple’s 3rd-party retailers are reporting stock outages for both the iPad Air and iPad Air 2. And even though Apple, itself, has displayed no signs of supply constraints, even some of its own retail stores and 3rd party retailers have begun reporting the devices slowly drifting out of stock.

Apple is widely expected to unveil the new ‘iPad Air 3’, err, 9.7-inch ‘iPad Pro’, as well as the new 4-inch ‘iPhone SE’ at a special town hall event to be held during the week of March 21st — so it wont be that long at all until we can finally put many of these rumors to rest and find out the truth.

Learn More: Leaked iPhone 7 Case Confirms Lack of Headphone Jack

Do you plan to pick up one of Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPads or 4-inch iPhones?

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]