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Is this the iPad Air 2?

The Air's successor could land with fingerprint scanning powers

Esat Dedezade

A reportedly accurate dummy unit of the iPad Air 2 has cropped up online, and it suggests that Apple’s next tablet could share the iPhone 5s‘ fingerprint scanning abilities, thanks to a clearly visible Touch ID home button.

Bestowing its latest tablet with a fingerprint-scanning home button will encourage developers to make use of iOS 8‘s Touch ID APIs that Apple announced at WWDC.

READ MORE: iPad Air review

That means that in addition to paying for items using PayPal and a quick swipe of a finger, Air 2 (and iPhone) users will be able to use their digits to login to other apps, access protected files, and more.

Elsewhere, the design of the Air 2 model remains more or less the same as the existing Air, bar a few changes.

There appears to be a microphone located beneath the rear camera lens, and the rotation lock toggle has gone AWOL, although this might purely be due to the fact that this is a dummy unit and not the final retail device.

Is this the iPad Air 2?

We expect the iPad Air 2 to be revealed sometime in November, mirroring the original Air’s launch last year.

There’s no solid information on specs so far, although we expect it to land with the same 2048 x 1536 Retina Display, along with a bump in the camera and processor departments.

Stay tuned for more info, as and when we get it.

READ MORE: iOS 8 preview

[Ortud via Trusted Reviews]

Profile image of Esat Dedezade Esat Dedezade Contributor

About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.