the longest-lasting model of its kind ever on sale
Technically correct, but it’s only been around 10% longer than average.
It’s been on a schedule of a little under a year and a half for quite a while. This isn’t much of an outlier.
But more interestingly: with the A12Z and M1 revisions, overall sentiment seemed to be that it was overpowered. The iPadOS 16 Stage Manager feature gives the M1 a purpose, but beyond that, I don’t think most people are aching for a performance boost.