The iPad Air 2 is perhaps the best all-round tablet you can buy at the moment. That said, it is getting a little long in the tooth by tech standards. As such, it should come as no surprise that a new model is expected to debut at Apple's upcoming 21 March event.

With the tablet market in general slowing down during the past year, a powerful and feature-rich iPad Air 3 could just be the thing Apple needs to reinvigorate sales. Here we detail five elements we'd like the Cupertino-based company to integrate into the iPad Air 3.

Introduce 3D Touch

When Apple debuted the iPhone 6s, it was essentially a mobile device platform for iOS 9 and 3D Touch. On said smartphone, the full potential for the pressure-activated interface was never fully realised, partly because app developers never created enough content for it. That can easily change with the iPad Air 3, with the increased screen real estate providing more ways to play with 3D Touch. As such, we hope Apple and developers alike embrace it for the iPad Air 3.

Up the camera specs

Despite our personal feelings regarding photo snapping with a tablet, consumers are still happy to do it. If that continues, you might as well put a good camera in there. On the iPad Air 2, Apple opted for its 8MP iSight model, with a sub-par 1.2 MP one up front. As far as both are concerned, a upgrade is needed. The primary shooter will likely be replaced by Apple's new 12MP iSight variant, but the front facing one truly needs to be pushed to the 5MP mark. Especially for users that want to enjoy FaceTime on their tablet.

Fit a new processor

The iPad Air is not the most powerful tablet out there, but then again it never needed to be. That will have to change if the rumours that it will incorporate elements from the enterprise-focused iPad Pro are to be believed. If that is the case, making the shift to Apple's A9 chipset is in order. Upgrading things to an octa-core or hexa-core setup will also be needed, as the current 1.5 GHz triple-core might not cut it.

More onboard storage

When Apple integrated a Retina display for the iPad Air 2, it was a significant step forward. Not only did it result in better looking apps, but apps that took up more memory as well. As it currently stands, the iPad Air 2 features a maximum onboard storage capacity of 128 GB. Upping this capacity to the 256 GB mark would certainly help in storing far larger apps than before. It would also mean photos, videos and other media could be stored on one's iPad with worrying about having enough memory to handle it. To truly increase the ability of the iPad Air, the onboard storage must also receive a new tier.

Make it a multitasker

Right now, the iPad Air has two things going for it, it's slim and light (6.1 mm and 444g). At the moment, especially if you want to lure more consumers, that's simply not enough. To that end, Apple would be well served to add some accessories to the iPad Air 3, to up its multitasking factor. For example, integrate the Apple Pencil stylus for designers, or perhaps a smart keyboard for those wanting to do some work on the fly. While games and web browsing are great, the iPad Air 3 should be limited to those two uses alone.

While most of you will be enjoying Monday, 21 March, off for Human Rights Day, you can follow us on Twitter from 19:00 PM onwards, as we'll be live tweeting the Apple event. Follow us at @TechSmartMag to find out what the iPad Air 3 is packing.