iPad Air 4 Said to Launch in March 2021 With A14 Processor, iPad Pro Update Possibly Next Month

[m4mario]

What if the next iPad gets an A14 (or A14X/Z) but no miniLED. Is that still a real update?

I am more looking for a form factor upgrade. With thinner bagels and all. miniLED is not that important as long as its a better display. Processor update is needed. As fast as it is, I just don't want to buy an iPad with an aging processor and design, especially when a new one is imminent.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

I'll stick with my Air 2 thanks. Don't see any need to upgrade.

I said the same thing. Until I upgraded to the Pro 11 2020 model the other day. It is a awesome upgrade that is totally worth it. No regrets at all. I traded my Air 2 @BESTBUY and got $90 for it.

 

[CarlJ]

I am more looking for a form factor upgrade. With thinner bagels and all.

Damn straight! What the iPad needs is to come with thinner bagels.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

No way is another Pro coming this year. It will be a cash cow for Apple this holiday current model. Next year for sure it will be updated.

 

[cmaier]

Damn straight! What the iPad needs is to come with thinner bagels.

Yeah, but the screen is always getting schmeared.

 

[BuffaloTF]

For every example you provided, older technology was replaced with something better or newer.

There is no way to connect multiple high-def monitors to iPad due to lack of Thunderbolt. There is no way to have true multitasking on iPadOS. Apps regularly get killed in the background regardless of 2GB or 6GB RAM. There is no way to adapt to those limitations. macOS is intended to offer a full computing experience and relies on the higher thermal envelope of a Mac to provide that.

In my opinion, nether macOS nor iPadOS are more likely to replace each other. They serve two very different markets.

I mean... functionally the iPad supports the DisplayPort standard... so it could run multiple monitors, but that would require a change in iOS and the resolution it outputs. That is to say, Thunderbolt isn't the only path forward, but it sure would be great to have.

 

[m4mario]

No way is another Pro coming this year. It will be a cash cow for Apple this holiday current model. Next year for sure it will be updated.

If it does come out, that would mean only one thing. Apple needed consumer testing for the lidar scanner before putting it on an iPhone. But you are probably right. We may not get another one this year. Probably in 2021 March.

 

[cmaier]

If it does come out, that would mean only one thing. Apple needed consumer testing for the lidar scanner before putting it on an iPhone. But you are probably right. We may not get another one this year. Probably in 2021 March.

5G and miniLED is due.

 

[jpeagle]

The number of people that ‘upgraded’ from a 2018 iPad Pro to the 2020 model must be rather tiny. At worst some people took the release as a signal that the next major update might only come in 2021 and thus bought one now instead of possibly waiting until October.

en. it maybe a marketing strategy, when apple could not refresh ipad pro with significant improvement in earlier 2020 due to manufacturing or design problem, and customer is already waiting for refresh and not buying any more old model. in order to fill the gap, it simply add lidar and open a new core of old cpu, then push it to market.

 

[Jazz Baby]

Does this herald the end for my 2012 iPad 2? I do suppose working speakers might be good.

 

[MartyvH]

the "air" moniker no longer makes any sense and should be retired

I agree - unless the iPad Air keeps being made thinner and lighter in each iteration. (Hello, battery technology breakthrough, where are you....)

 

[ejin222]

No, you don't. You just want to have your cake and eat it too. iPad and Mac are completely different products that are worlds part. The fact that they share some of the same space debris in their orbits is a far cry from being the same planet.

Nope, they won't. Nothing could be more clear at this point.

what? You know what I want? Lol

Of course I want my cake and eat it too. I was talking about ideals for me, not what Apple WILL do.

I get that they may never combine the platforms. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want it.

 

[unchecked]

Alright the article starts off with "according to a prominent overseas leaker". I suspect there's a little internet echo-chamber happening here.

 

[mazz0]

I am more looking for a form factor upgrade. With thinner bagels and all. miniLED is not that important as long as its a better display. Processor update is needed. As fast as it is, I just don't want to buy an iPad with an aging processor and design, especially when a new one is imminent.

Not me, I love this form factor. I dunno how you’d hold it with thinner bezels. I’m using the big model, maybe thinner bezels could work on the smaller one? I prefer quite thick bagels though.

 

[ericwn]

ugh, when will this "you need it" thing die off?

People don't just buy tech because they "need it". I mean, sure they do, often, but a lot of the times they just want something. Just like cars. If we just bought cars we need instead of want, we would all be buying old Soviet LADAs.

Well in that case you just experienced how you feel when you buy stuff just for fun. Didn’t sound like you enjoyed it now in the potential presence of something newer aka the inevitable.

Besides, you asked, you got a response.

Oh good god, MacOS is a older OS to IOS? If it wasn't this transition to Apple Silicon and the ability to run iOS/iPadOS apps as a poor substitute for lack of native applications, you would not want to run those at all.

MacOS is a hardened environment that doesn't need a Apple App Store to act as a gatekeeper for all the bad stuff out there. Its a full version of Unix with a Darwin Kernel. You really need to consider that IOS is a the stepchild here and not the first born. LOL

I use both, but you truly made be laugh with that attitude.

We were discussing reasons why macOS isn’t coming to an iOS machine from Apples perspective. From a marketing standpoint on that topic I try ink I was spot on.

I use both too and am aware of what each is what came first and what the stepchild is. Didn’t matter to the marketing department. If you doubt it will come to the outside I guessed, feel free to have a debate about it.

My attitude? LOL.

With the switch to Apple Silicon in the Mac, I think it is more likely that iPadOS will replace MacOS.

Maybe in a while, could be possible. That might not sit well with plenty of Mac users though.

 

[CarlJ]

I agree - unless the iPad Air keeps being made thinner and lighter in each iteration. (Hello, battery technology breakthrough, where are you....)

Names don’t have to make sense for their respective products, they just have to be recognizable. In what way does the name “Amazon” really relate to online shopping, other than being the name chosen by a company that went on to be huge in the online shopping arena. Similarly with “Apple” and technology - its not like the fruit was frequently held up as an example of technology before a couple of guys used it as the name for their little computer company.

So, “Air” was originally the name of a tablet that was thinner than its predecessors, now it’s just the name of the middle product line, between “” (the iPad with no suffix), and “Pro” (which arguably isn’t for professionals, it’s just the name for the top-end model now).

 

[ericwn]

What if I wanted one so that I can impress people? Who cares why I wanted one? It's the Osbourne effect in play, and I just like having the newest tech.

There’s a simple fix for that. Just get the newest one.

 

[m4mario]

Not me, I love this form factor. I dunno how you’d hold it with thinner bezels. I’m using the big model, maybe thinner bezels could work on the smaller one? I prefer quite thick bagels though.

The bigger the model the less awkward the bezel looks. I don’t want too small a bezel. Just as big as the iPad Air’s side bezels. the current iPad Pro bezels might be thinner than the top bezels of the iPad Air, but it’s bigger than the side bezels. And that’s odd looking. You’ll still be able to grip the iPad just fine.

 

[cmaier]

I agree - unless the iPad Air keeps being made thinner and lighter in each iteration. (Hello, battery technology breakthrough, where are you....)

Amazon.com isn’t located in the amazon river. The Ford Mustang isn’t a horse.

 

[mazz0]

Amazon.com isn’t located in the amazon river. The Ford Mustang isn’t a horse.

The Mustang is, however, one of Ford’s more performance oriented models. Are you arguing that model names should be picked at random rather than having a thematic relevance to the product being marketed?

 

[cmaier]

The Mustang is, however, one of Ford’s more performance oriented models. Are you arguing that model names should be picked at random rather than having a thematic relevance to the product being marketed?

Are mustangs particularly fast horses? How about impalas? Is an impala faster or slower than a mustang? Should Chevy and Ford have been forced to swap product names based on who wins a race?

And you are making a straw man argument. I never said that model names SHOULD be picked at random. I merely pointed out that they often are.

Coca Cola has no cocaine in it. False advertising? Apple doesn't sell fruit. You can use your August lock in September. Amazon Kindles are not particularly flammable, and Amazon Fires, if they are actually burning, are not operating within their intended design parameters. Samsung Galaxy phones don't work very well in the vacuum of space. Netgear nighthawk routers are neither avian nor nocturnal.

The world is full of product names that have nothing to do with characteristics of the product.

 

[mazz0]

Are mustangs particularly fast horses?

I have no idea, but I think that’s the vibe Ford are going for. That’s the point - it’s about invoking a feeling.

And you are making a straw man argument. I never said that model names SHOULD be picked at random. I merely pointed out that they often are.

Coca Cola has no cocaine in it. False advertising? Apple doesn't sell fruit. You can use your August lock in September. Amazon Kindles are not particularly flammable, and Amazon Fires, if they are actually burning, are not operating within their intended design parameters. Samsung Galaxy phones don't work very well in the vacuum of space. Netgear nighthawk routers are neither avian nor nocturnal.

The world is full of product names that have nothing to do with characteristics of the product.

I didn’t make a straw man argument, I made a valid inference from your post. It sounded like you were defending poorly chosen product names. Still does.

Now you’re making a straw man argument. Nobody said it was false advertising, nobody said no other company has ever had poorly chosen product names, all they said was that the Air name was no longer appropriate. I don’t know why you have a problem with that observation. The fact other companies do it really makes no difference.

You’ll be sticking up for the Pro name next :’D

 

[cmaier]

I have no idea, but I think that’s the vibe Ford are going for. That’s the point - it’s about invoking a feeling.


I didn’t make a straw man argument, I made a valid inference from your post. It sounded like you were defending poorly chosen product names. Still does.

Now you’re making a straw man argument. Nobody said it was false advertising, nobody said no other company has ever had poorly chosen product names, all they said was that the Air name was no longer appropriate. I don’t know why you have a problem with that observation. The fact other companies do it really makes no difference.

You’ll be sticking up for the Pro name next :’D

”iPad Air” is equally appropriate as any of the other names I have listed for other products.

 

[mazz0]

”iPad Air” is equally appropriate as any of the other names I have listed for other products.

I already addressed this point. Other companies using inappropriate names doesn't make this one appropriate.

 

[nicho]

Samsung Galaxy phones don't work very well in the vacuum of space.

That would be one (extreme) way to prevent battery fires.