Leakster says: 3D Touch coming to iPads, but probably not in 2016

Yesterday, we got wind of a report by veteran Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, which sided with rumors that we may see an iPad Air 3 launch in the Spring of 2016. The tablet would not have the pressure-sensitive 3D Touch display that debuted with the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus and Kuo’s reasoning for this is the technological complications involved with putting such tech in a larger screen, which result in a lower production yield than desired.

As a reminder - 3D Touch gives users an extra layer of control over how apps behave, by measuring the pressure applied to the screen, resulting in extra menus and pop-ups when the user presses a bit harder on icons or links. The functionality is currently not very deeply integrated into iOS and totally ignored by many 3rd party apps, so choosing to work on improving yields before adding it to tablets makes sense, as analysts, and possibly Apple, don’t expect that consumer demand for pressure-sensitive iPads would increase in a significant way, while production costs certainly will.

Today, another rumor arises, claiming that Apple does indeed plan on having 3D Touch available in its tablets at some point, but this may happen well after the release of 2016’s iPhone 7 (link leads to rumor roundup). Tech site Apple Insider claims that a reliable source has confirmed Apple is working on scaling the pressure-sensitive displays to go all the way up to the 12.9” size of the iPad Pro, but will not be ready to mass-produce such units before September 2016. What this means is that the iPads that are due to be released in 2016 - the possible iPad Air 3, mini 5, and a Pro 2 - will all lack 3D Touch.

We are willing to wager a guess that a second generation iPad Pro would be delayed until Apple advances its tech enough to warrant an upgrade for the current mega-size tablet. The Pro has an impressively powerful processor, and is future-proofed with 4 GB of RAM, which will certainly help it carry over a 12-month cycle with ease. Plus, it's a very niche device to begin with, so regular, clear-cut updates don't seem that probable. We already saw Apple skip an annual upgrade of the iPad Air 2, with its successor expected to arrive some time in March, 2016, as opposed to being launched in September of 2015. Should we expect the possible iPad Pro 2 be the first Apple slate with a 3D Touch display? Time will tell.