iPad Air Plus Release Date, Specs & Features: Leaked Photo Sketch Shows Modified Speaker

Here's the latest update on the rumored iPad Air Plus.

According to Business Insider, there has been a leaked photo sketch of the new tablet going rounds on the Internet recently. Citing the French blog Nowhereelse as source, Business Insider said the alleged photo sketch was provided by a source who had also leaked internal Foxconn sketches for the recently released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Here's the alleged photo sketch courtesy of Nowhereelse. The leaked photo shows some changes on the tablet's speakers. Actually, not much has been changed in terms of the device's design. The leaked photo shows the upper back part of the iPad wherein we see that the rear camera, power button, and volume buttons remain where they are. However, it is noticeable that the speaker holes are now on top next to the power button. Note that what we're seeing is just at least one row of speakers. Current iPad models have two speaker rows at the bottom part of the tablet.

Business Insider added that the French blog reported that the device will be between 6.9 to 7.5 mm thick with "four integrated speakers" to boost volume and sound quality.

The unnamed source also revealed that the initial testing for the device halted in summer but did not provide further details. The source however added that mass production of the device will soon follow.

Apple has not yet confirmed if the leaked image is indeed the rumored iPad Air Plus.

The rumored iPad Air Plus, which others also call as iPad Pro, is known as Apple's bigger iPad version, according to Mac Rumors which cited Japanese magazine Mac Fan. It reported that the new iPad will be larger than the usual ones as it measures 305.31mm x 220.8mm x 7mm or 12 inches x 8.7 inches x 0.28 inches. It will have a 12.2-inch display, it claimed. However, Bloomberg says that the new iPad will probably measure 12.9 inches diagonally. As for comparison, current iPads have 9.7-inch and 7.9-inch displays.

The new iPad will reportedly "closely resemble" the recently released iPads -- Air 2 and Mini 3 -- in terms of its design. It is seen to have a thin chassis and slim bezels just like the two other iPads. However, the new iPad will be thicker than the iPad Air 2 which is 6.1 mm thin and than the iPhone 6 which is 6.9 mm. The new tablet which is expected to measure 7 mm however will slightly be thinner than the new iPhone 6 Plus which is 7.1 thick. The iPad Pro is seen to get the powerful triple-core A8X processor which is currently in the new iPad Air 2 and the latest iOS 8 as its operating system.

The new tablet is believed to be unveiled this year.