We explore all of the latest rumours about the iPad Air 3, which is tipped to arrive alongside a new iPhone 5se on March 21. We round up the iPad Air 3 UK release date, price and specification rumours, plus explain how to watch the iPad Air 3 launch live stream

The iPad Air 2, which came out in October 2014, is thinner, lighter and more powerful than its predecessor, with new features including the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. But Apple won't stop there. We've gathered all of the iPad Air 3 release date, price and features rumours in one place so you'll know when the iPad Air 3 is coming out and what it's going to be like. You might also like: iPhone 7 rumours, iPhone 6S rumours

Update 14 March: The latest leaked photos (via @stagueve) are a case with a dummy model of the Air 3. They clearly show the three-pin Smart Connector and also cutouts for four speakers. If the mockup is correct and you're after a more affordable iPad Pro with a smaller screen, the upcoming 9.7in iPad Air should appeal.

iPad Air 3 UK release date: 21 March 2016 (TBC)

A look back over Apple's iPad release history would suggest that the next iPad should have arrived in October 2015, yet it did not. Instead, the iPad mini 4, the device with which it would usually share its launch event, was unveiled alongside the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plusand iPad Pro in September 2015. There was no October event.

The iPad Air 2 was unveiled on 16 October, and was released later the same month, while the first iPad Air was announced on 22 October 2013 before a November release.

A report from 9to5Mac suggests Apple will be holding a special event in March 2016. Headlining that event will be the Apple Watch 2, iPhone 5se and the iPad Air 3. Also see:What to expect from Apple's March event.

We now know that the event will be held on 21 March 2016. You might also like: What to expect from Apple in 2015

Apple has sent out invitations to its iPad Air 3 event on 21 March with the subject line ‘Let us loop you in’, which most likely refers to new Apple Watch straps (maybe even an Apple Watch 2) expected to be announced on the day.

That’s by no means the headline product launch, however, and we’ll almost certainly see a new iPhone 5se, iPad Air 3 and potentially a new MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. Don’t expect to see the wraps taken off the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus just yet.

Provided you have the necessary hardware, you can tune into the X live stream by heading toapple.com/apple-events. You will need an Apple iPhone, iPad or iPod running iOS 7.0 or later, a Mac with OS X 10.8.5 or later, or a Windows 10 PC running the Edge browser.

If you don’t have the necessary hardware to watch the live stream, fear not. We’ll be bringing you a live blog with commentary of the event as it happens right here on this very page, so bookmark us now.

The event begins at 10am PDT (6pm UK time) on Monday 21 March, a day ahead of Apple’s FBI court hearing.

It's likely that the iPad Air 3 will cost around the same as the iPad Air 2 does now. So that's a starting price of around £399 for the WiFi-only 16GB model, ranging up to £659 for the WiFi + Cellular option with 128GB capacity.

The good news is that the iPad Air 2 will probably come down in price by around £80, and will still be a fantastic tablet.

You might also like: iPad Air 2 vs iPad mini 3 comparison

We didn't expect Apple to change the design of the iPad when it launched the iPad Air 2, but the company surprised us by making the already thin and light device even slimmer. It's 6.1mm thick compared with the 7.5mm of the original iPad Air.

We think 6.1mm is thin enough, but don't be surprised to see Apple shave even more off of the iPad Air's profile with the next model. Apple is rumoured to be building it from even stronger aluminium than before, so it's certainly plausible.

We expect the same Gold, Silver and Slate Grey colour options (the Gold option was introduced to the iPad with the latest model), with the potential addition of a Rose Gold model.

It's also rumoured that the iPad Air 3 will feature a Smart Connector for accessories, as seen in the iPad Pro, and support the Apple Pencil stylus.

Leaked photos of an iPad Air 3 case suggest the iPad will also get the Pro's four front-facing speakers.

It's possible that other aspects of the iPad Air's design could change, though, but we'll have to wait for more evidence to mount to find out what those tweaks could be.

We're expecting Apple to continue its tradition of launching a new, more powerful chip for each model of iPad, so a super-powerful A9X chip (as seen in the iPad Pro) for the iPad Air 3 is likely. Indeed, Bloomberg reports: "In March, Apple intends to announce an updated iPad and smaller-screen iPhone featuring the latest A9x and A9 chips, according to a person familiar with the plans, who wasn’t authorized to comment publicly."

The iPad Air 2 is already capable of up to 12 times faster processing than the very first iPad, and 180 times faster graphics.

Here's where we're hoping for some big improvements in the iPad Air 3. The iPad Air's Retina display has a 9.7in display with a resolution of 2048x1536, equating to 264ppi. That's by no means a poor screen, but there's better out there and we hope Apple can improve upon it with its next tablet.

The iPad Pro has an even higher screen resolution of 2732x2048, for example, and that screen could well make its way to the iPad Air 3.

We're not expecting much change when it comes to cameras with the iPad Air 3. Apple doesn't focus too much on the camera in its tablets, but it did up the megapixel count in the iPad Air 2's rear-facing camera from 5Mp to 8Mp with the latest model, and it increased the megapixel count on its latest iPhones.

The company may make some tweaks to the camera to help it perform better in low light, however. The aforementioned leaked case photos show a large enough cutout for the iPad Air 3 to feature a flash. Other upgrades might include additional camera modes.

We'll update this article with more iPad Air 3 rumours as they arrive, so keep this page bookmarked and check back regularly for the latest speculation and evidence.