That's my guess too. They'll probably talk a lot more about the advancements in the A14 during the Tuesday online event and then announce immediate availability of the iPad Air at the end of the event.
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iPad Air Shipments Arriving at Apple Stores Ahead of Launch
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I agree. Infuriating, really. Because of COVID, you would think Apple would have ramped up iPad production/supply chain/consumer-retail value chain, etc. They've had 1/2 the year. iPads of all stripes have been sold out for weeks, and my kids are suffering in school without a device. If sales are down, they have themselves to blame. It's not like there wasn't a demand for the things.
Has Apple ever launched a product during a weekend before? I wouldn't put much stock in that rumour. In fact, a lot of rumours and supposed leaks about the exact launch date of the Air 4 have proven wrong. Jon Prosser has already been wrong twice.
You mean the Airpods promotion? You might want to read the fine print. The Air 4 has never been listed as an "eligible" iPad anyway. Neither is the new iPad 8. In fact, they don't say it outright, but I think it only applies to Pros.
Perhaps they hope that people will be so desperate for something to buy after it's revealed that half the iPhones models wont be shipping for at least another month, that they'll impulse buy the iPad which will be "available now" immediately after the event 
The entry level iPad is in stock on Amazon right now.
Cases are one of my reservations about the new Air. How is a case going to have wrap around protection when TouchID is built into the sleep/wake button?! Button cut-outs are horrible to use, but I can’t see any other solution.
September iPad Air announcement was bizzare nonetheless. It could've launched alongside iPhone 12 and nobody would care. It's almost October 13th, and iPad Air could've hit the shelves at the same date as some of iPhone 12 models. What gives??
I disagree. The press, YouTube videos, articles etc. would have had their attention split and less time to initially devote to iPad Air if it had been introduced alongside iPhone 12.
Apple have maximised media coverage and generated pent-up demand through pre-launch hype.
his assertion that current ipads were sold out made no sense.
Plus that his kids were 'suffering in school' as a result? What, all their ipads died in the past week?
I wonder if they’re also partly staggering their releases like this because they’ve never faced a situation where their stores are completely overloaded during a global pandemic. I’m really curious about the iPhone launch because surely those queues would get fairly bad press this year.
Might have a feature or function common to the phone that they want to keep under wraps until the phone is announced. Chip, camera, or charging feature maybe.
There was a story that Foxconn was running at full capacity 24/7 cranking out Apple products. These factories are huge employing thousands of workers likely also having to deal with Covid restrictions and safety measures.
I can understand being frustrated at supply, but I think sometimes we take things for granted not realizing the enormous demand and quantities that are being produced.
While I am slightly frustrated by Apple’s secrecy, I can roll with everything else.
Air: I will wait for sales. The watch is becoming more of a priority as we have 7th gen iPads here.
Air: I will wait for sales. The watch is becoming more of a priority as we have 7th gen iPads here.
The Education deal with free AirPods w/ iPad models ends on the 12th, they’re waiting to make them orderable after that. Which sucks for us college students who want to get that deal on the iPad Air.
Magically, the back to school air pods offer ends on the 12th. The new base iPad didn't qualify, and the iPad Pros have shipping times over a month out. Coincidence? I don't think so. I predict orders will start on the 13th and in November we get the new Mac and an updated iPad Pro.
Maybe they will offer Air 4 in that promo in the countries where it is still valid?
I mean pricing is higher around Europe and many other countries I guess it would not make much difference to them.
Also to me Air 4 official price does not seem much of a bargain compared to Pro 11", there are so many things different. Just a wild guess but Air was included in that promo while Air 3 was still in sale and if I recall the promo document did not exactly specify Air 3, it just said iPad Air, and then later on when Air 3 was EOL and Air 4 introduced Air was not mentioned in revised document, so interesting to see what happens next.
I mean pricing is higher around Europe and many other countries I guess it would not make much difference to them.
Also to me Air 4 official price does not seem much of a bargain compared to Pro 11", there are so many things different. Just a wild guess but Air was included in that promo while Air 3 was still in sale and if I recall the promo document did not exactly specify Air 3, it just said iPad Air, and then later on when Air 3 was EOL and Air 4 introduced Air was not mentioned in revised document, so interesting to see what happens next.
The Air release date (Oct 13th right after the event) is going to be used to placate us due to NO iPhones being available for pre-order. lol.
If they both hit the shelves and offline stores at around the same date, I couldn't understand the attention split argument? They both have A14, and readily available at the same time. Customers' attention would split either way.
ah but customers attention has been on iPad Air since the announcement. Many will have decided - in the intervening period - to buy on release.
Attention isn’t limited to what’s ready to buy.
A lot of people take a while to think, choose model, decide to buy, justify purchase etc. This way, they’ve had a chance to do that since the announcement and resulting slew of preview videos, marketing webpages and email by Apple, social media posts and such.
Next comes the iPhone, and repeat the above process.
And then, in November probably again with the Mac (and iPad Pro?).
Again, read the fine print. Only the Pros were eligible for this promotion anyway. Even if the Air 4 had come out in September you wouldn’t have gotten any AirPods with it, so that has nothing to do with the release date.