Samsung will reportedly launch its new flagship slate soon. With either a late 2016 or early 2017 release, the rumored Galaxy Tab S3 is expected to go head to head with its rival slate, the upcoming iPad Air 3.

Although the Galaxy Tab S- series is the flagship lineup by Samsung, it is expected that the Galaxy Tab S3 launch is more likely to clash with the iPad Air 3 rather than a Pro version. Apple has already come out with a new iPad Pro iteration earlier this year. Speculations also suggest that its follow-up – the iPad Pro 2 – will debut next year instead. This means that with an expected release soon, the Galaxy Tab S3 will be compared against the iPad Air 3.

Aside from the iPad Pro 2 not coming anytime soon, the Cupertino-based company is said to be focusing on coming out with the much-anticipated iPad Air 3, since this will be the third time that the slate has been reportedly delayed. Supposedly, the new iPad Air is expected to debut last year, though Apple has delayed its release in favor of the original, 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

The iPad Air 3 also failed to appear at Apple's March launch event, as well as the annual WWDC trade show.

In terms of specs, there may be no contest between the two, since the iPad Air series has been aimed as a multimedia slate, while the flagship Galaxy Tab S3, while the most basic in the series (with a Galaxy TabPro S3 supposedly in the works), is still a task-oriented tablet. The Galaxy Tab S3 is expected to come out with a Snapdragon 625 processor, paired with 3GB of RAM. The iPad Air 3, on the other hand, is rumored to come with an A9X chipset with at least 2GB of RAM, and iOS 10.