With Apple shifting its product lineups, speculations suggest that one advantage will be a much lower price for the iPad Air 3.

Speculations suggest that the upcoming iPad Air flagship will be positioned as the entry-level Apple slate for 2017. This means that the iPad Air 3 is expected to come out early next year, together with the iPad Pro 2 lineup. While the Cupertino-based tech giant has yet to come out with confirmed details, it is said that as part of the overhauled lineup, the iPad Pro 2 will add another iteration, a 10.5-inch version.

However, even having its own 9.7-inch in the lineup, the base model iPad Pro 2 will still have above-average specs and a corresponding price range. With the iPad Air 3 having minor changes — but updates nonetheless — from the iPad Air 2, the new slate will serve as the entry-level tablet for the iPad Pro 2.

As to what fans can expect from the new iPad Air 3, rumors suggest that the new slate will be the tablet counterpart to the iPhone 6s. This means that an A9 chipset is to be expected, with at least 2 GB of RAM. It remains to be seen if there will be design changes to the new slate, such as switching to a new chassis like the Series 7000 aluminum frame.

With the iPad Air 3 being a tablet-like iPhone 6s, it is also expected that the price range will remain similar to the iPhone, and may even launch with a lower price tag compared with how much the iPad Air 2 was launched. Some fans believe that as an entry-level slate and having lower specs than the iPad Pro 2's 9.7-inch version, the iPad Air 3 may have a price tag of at least $400.

It is expected that the iPad Air 3 will debut alongside the full iPad Pro 2 lineup in the expected Apple March event next year.