Apple iPhone 5se Poses With The 5, iPad Air 3 Coming Too

Once upon a time, Apple was famous, if not notorious, for being able to keep much of its secrets under wraps until the appointed time of product reveals. Nowadays it suffers the same fate as any other major OEM in terms of near-accurate leaks. Like this latest photo of the iPhone 6c 5se, which is seen side by side the iPhone 5, both smartphones flaunting their petite 4-inch screens. The iPhone 5se is rumored to come in late March or early April, and it won't be coming along. The iPad Air 3 might be arriving with it.

Apple has long been rumored to have a more compact iPhone in the works. Given its expected new look, it was, at first, christened as the iPhone 6c. The latest insider information, however, seems to imply that it will be associated more with the iPhone 5 generation because of its size. That said, that might indeed be their only similarity, as the iPhone 5se, as seen in this side by side photo, does bear the rounded edges and "2.5D" screen of the iPhone 6 line.

The iPhone 5se will also be running on an Apple A8 chip, with an M8 coprocessor. Again, that is more like the iPhone 6 instead of the iPhone 6s, which has a beefier A9 processor. In fact, it shares a lot more in common with the iPhone 6 than the 6s, including the lack of a 3D Touch screen. Despite that, the mini iPhone will strangely have the new Live Photo feature, which could perhaps trigger questions of whether 3D Touch is even needed at all.

According to popular KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the refreshed iPad Air 3 will also make its debut in the first half of this year, most likely with the iPhone 5se. The update of Apple's 9.7-inch tablet line has been long expected, with the iPad Air 2 launched back in October 2014. It was hoped that the larger tablet would be announced last year, though that spot was taken by the iPad Mini 4 instead.

Not much is known about the specs of the iPad Air 3, but one recurring speculation is that, like the iPhone 5se, it won't have 3D Touch capable hardware either. With a feature that is found on two and only two of its devices, at least so far, some might wonder begin wondering if Apple is really invested in its future at all.

VIA: 9to5Mac, AppleInsider