iPhone 7, iPad Air 3 among new Apple products to release in 2016

Apple logo[photo: Commons Wikimedia/Apple]

While Apple recently released a number of new additions to its expansive product lineup, some fans and observers can't help but guess the tech giant's moves in the coming year.

According to Know Your Mobile, the focus for Apple's 2016 launches will be on the next iterations of the iPhone. The industry follower surmised that aside from the rumored iPhone 6c, the Cupertino-based company will also be coming out with the iPhone 7.

The report mentioned that Apple has huge plans for the iPhone 7 lineup, and although the iPhone 7 won't come out until the latter part of 2016 (it is rumored that it will release by September), Apple is reportedly already deveeloping it. By the middle of the third quarter up to early fourth quarter of next year, fans will see the base model iPhone 7 and its larger counterpart, the iPhone 7 Plus.

Meanwhile, aside from the iPhone, another anticipated offering that Apple is rumored to be readying is the iPad Air 3. According to rumors, the iPad Air 3 was originally slated to appear this year together with the iPad Mini 4. However, owing to another competitor (Microsoft's Surface Pro 4) coming out with a new flagship, Apple had no choice but to forego the new iPad Air 3 in favor of the iPad Pro.

Techno Buffalo reported that this bump in the release gave the upcoming iPad an advantage as the iPad Air 3 has been redesigned to be thinner, lighter, but more powerful than its predecessors.

In addition to an iPad Air 3 prediction, the industry follower also mentioned that 2016 could spell the end of the MacBook Air lineup as Apple hopes to make its laptop flagships more powerful, which would mean a lot of weight (the MacBook Air's selling point is its being an ultralight device).