iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 With Touch ID 'Confirmed' by Apple

Apple is hosting a special event on Thursday where it is expected to unveil the next generation iPad tablets, in addition to announcing a release date for the new operating system for its Macintosh computers.

On Wednesday, however, the company shared more than perhaps it had bargained for by accidentally outing a user guide for iOS 8.1 in the iBooks store. The screenshots for the user guide reportedly outs the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 names, as well as revealing that the new tablets will come with Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

The screenshots confirm that both new tablets will include nearly identical designs to their predecessors and the addition of Touch ID sensors in the Home button. Another new feature confirmed by this leak is a new Burst Mode (first introduced with the iPhone 5s) for the iPad Air 2 (image below).

These images also indicate that the new tablets will be named "iPad Air 2″ and "iPad mini 3," which means that Apple will bringing the numbering scheme for names back to the iPad lineup. Of course, the presence of this user guide means iOS 8.1 (with Apple Pay) is likely to drop tomorrow, too.

At the event on Thursday, which we'll be covering live on NDTV Gadgets, Apple is also expected to unveil OS X Yosemite and new iMac computers with Retina display.