iPad Air 2 Release Date, Specs & Rumors: Gold Colored Tablet Available?

Unofficially branded as the iPad Air 2, Apple's rumored 9.7-inch iPad line may sport a gold-colored variant.

According to Bloomberg, the iPads are anticipated to be unveiled this month with the additional color option. The outlet, however, clarified that Apple spokeswoman Teresa Brewer has nothing to say at this point.

The golden iPad Air 2 makes it at par with Apple's iPhone models, which have been offered in three colors since the dawn of the iPhone 5s.

MacRumors said in an earlier report that according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a gold iPad variant is likely on the horizon.

"In light of limited development resources and the fact that iPad Air contributes more to Apple's sales and earnings than iPad mini, we think that only iPad Air 2 will see a major upgrade in specs this year, including anti-reflective coating for the cover lens, full lamination for the touch panel, a gold-colored metal casing, an A8 processor, Touch ID/ fingerprint recognition and an 8-megapixel rear camera," Kuo said in the report.

Apple's strategic thrust towards color varieties have sparked varied levels of success as well. BC Capital Markets analyst Amit Daryanani was cited by Bloomberg to comment that sales of Apple's 2013 lower-end iPhone 5c were disappointing. Recall that the iPhone 5c came in funky and bright colors. The 1999 iMacs, which came candy-colored, were regarded to be Apple's start of color experimentation.

Can Apple boost iPad sales with the speculated gold version?

Bloomberg said that the iPad's record sales has dropped for the past two quarters. The product took $5 billion upon its 2010 introduction. It hit $30 billion in 2012, approximately a whopping 83.33% sales increase over a period of two years. This gives the iPad an average gain of 41.67% per annum from 2010 to 2012.

But in 2013, iPad sales produced $32 billion--a mere 0.07% lift.

To date, specs of the rumored iPad Air 2 are still unconfirmed. In our previous report, the alleged specs of the iPad Air 2 were compared with that of the original iPad Air. The new iPad may sport the following: anti-reflective screen coating, an 8 MP rear camera, a 1.5 MP front camera, IOS 8 support, Touch ID and a thinner and lighter body.

An Oct. 21 event cited by the Daily Dot could potentially launch the so-called iPad Air 2.