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That wouldn't make much sense. It COULD get the A13, since the A12Z is faster in almost every way, but that's very tricky from a marketing perspective. My guess is that it stays at the A12 and gets 4GB of Ram. The same trick they pulled with the base iPad last year, which went from A10/2GB to A10/3GB. The big new thing will me the Pro form factor. And maybe stereo speakers, but I'm not counting on it. Definitely not 120hz.
True, Air 4 could stay with A12 and get to 4GB of ram and usb c and the pro form factor.
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USB-C on my iPad Pro spoiled me so I'm not getting another device with Lightning. Ever.
I am trying to sell the lightning dongles I had to buy (4 of them actually) while I am waiting for my iPP 2020 to arrive.
 
A14 would likely make it much more powerful that then iPad Pro.

The A14 will be about equal to the A12X/Z.

I can't see the Air sticking with the A12 as the budget iPad will likely get that chip in its next update (Apple won't release another A11 device ever it seems). I think the Air has to go to either the A13 or A14 in its next update. Just the timing of the A14X Pro makes for a weird situation.
 
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Everything in my office has pretty much switched to USB C. My two work laptops both accept USB C (Dell/HP) and my MBP 2017 has USB C.

Bring on the USB C! One less set of cables I need!
 
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So I guess I've missed the expected release month rumour, any ideas?

I'm eyeing up a refurbished 2018 ipad pro 11" from Apple, wondering if I should hold off for the ipad air 2020 release? Thinking the new Air may be a little more future proof compared to a 2018 pro for similar (or less) money.
 
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I sure hope this is true. My 2017 iPad Pro feels so crippled because of the lack of USB-C and there's no way I'm spending so much on a new iPad Pro (or even a 2018 model) just to get it. I'd definitely consider replacing it with a new iPad Air if it had USB-C. Apple should have moved all iPads (and iPhones but I know that will never happen) over to USB-C a few years ago.
 
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Although the loss of headphone jack is weird...
...It makes sense on the iPhone, due to constrained space and water proofing.

It does not. The phones (including iPhone) are groving bigger in size every year and the headphone jack can easily be fitted in and made ip68 waterproof. Just like with my Samsung S10 and the previous S7. Removing the headphone jack from mobile phones is just "courage" wich can be translated to utter clusterf* dumbness. Not to mention removing it from even bigger iPads.
 
I must be the odd user out in that I don't want the transition to USB-C even though that's what I have on my laptop, camera, and a few other things. This is because I have several Lightning-based accessories including an IR camera (don't laugh, it has been great for finding uninsulated areas in the house), a Shure MV88 microphone (which I use both for music performance recordings and for online conferencing), and my iPad Pro's Pencil. The transition to USB-C will basically send those accessories to the trash. I have had no problems attaching various USB-A devices via Lightning - MIDI keyboard, headset w/ mic (even better for online conferencing), card reader, and so forth.
 
The A14 will be about equal to the A12X/Z.

I can't see the Air sticking with the A12 as the budget iPad will likely get that chip in its next update (Apple won't release another A11 device ever it seems). I think the Air has to go to either the A13 or A14 in its next update. Just the timing of the A14X Pro makes for a weird situation.
Currently, the iPad Air 3 has the A12 and the iPad Pros have the A12X / A12Z. So I don't expect any different with the next round of updates: iPad Air 4 gets A14 and iPad Pros get A14X
 
I must be the odd user out in that I don't want the transition to USB-C even though that's what I have on my laptop, camera, and a few other things. This is because I have several Lightning-based accessories including an IR camera (don't laugh, it has been great for finding uninsulated areas in the house), a Shure MV88 microphone (which I use both for music performance recordings and for online conferencing), and my iPad Pro's Pencil. The transition to USB-C will basically send those accessories to the trash. I have had no problems attaching various USB-A devices via Lightning - MIDI keyboard, headset w/ mic (even better for online conferencing), card reader, and so forth.
But that legacy issue is there on every move from old to new connection types. it's like arguing "I have stuff on the old one so we must always have the old one forever on all new products". Sure it's annoying and painful in the short term, but it happens anyway, so you're effectively just delaying the inevitable.

And just as 30-pin to Lightning, Apple and others will do adapters, to help owners of legacy Lightning products transition to USB-C. So it's a moot issue. One that'll happen now or later, anyway.
 
I don't care what type connector it has, or what camera but my iPad Air 2 is suffering with its 2GB RAM and I need an upgrade. My next iPad must have at least 4GB. This could be the one!

I'm unsure about 120Hz on the Pro models, my impression is that it's for drawing and games. Does it make a noticeable difference when scrolling in a web browser?
 
I don't care what type connector it has, or what camera but my iPad Air 2 is suffering with its 2GB RAM and I need an upgrade. My next iPad must have at least 4GB. This could be the one!

I'm unsure about 120MHz on the Pro models, my impression is that it's for drawing and games. Does it make a noticeable difference when scrolling in a web browser?

It makes a noticeable difference when scrolling in a web browser. (For me anyway).
 
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I could see the continued use of the 12z on the Air, but with otherwise lower specs everywhere else, especially as next year a revised iPad Pro with an A14X is rumored to be arriving.
Keeping these devises capable well into the future is in Apple’s and developers best interest.
I just hope they don’t skimp on RAM, and keep it a minimum of 4GB to future proof them for future more powerful software.
 
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But that legacy issue is there on every move from old to new connection types. it's like arguing "I have stuff on the old one so we must always have the old one forever on all new products". Sure it's annoying and painful in the short term, but it happens anyway, so you're effectively just delaying the inevitable.

Apple could announce "iPhones will be USB-C by 2022" or other similar announcement. Instead they leave people in the dark and we have all this speculation. One of these devices (the microphone) I bought just before the first USB-C iPad. Had they announced a transition plan, I would have waited. But more importantly, Apple doesn't even bother to make adapters with male USB-C to female Lightning connectors. There are some third-party, but they aren't necessarily going to work. Anker's and Belkin's, for example, are solely to take USB-C output and drive Lightning headphones. So that's not even an option.
 
Usb c makes a lot of sense. Lightning port should go away completely. Which cpu will the iPad Air 4 have? Will it be faster than the 2020 iPad Pro? Will it keep the A12, maybe A12Z, A13, A14? Will it get miniled?
I hope Air 4 won’t be a better iPad than the current pro..
It will most likely have an iPhone chip (i.e not an X or Z series), but which chip it has will mostly depend on the timing of its release, as Apple will need to make sure it is inferior to the top of the line iPad Pro. If it is released this year before an updated iPad Pro is released it will have to stick with an A12 (i.e. the same chip in the current Air), possibly with 4 GB of RAM instead of the current 3 GB so it isn't perceived as having a newer chip than the A12Z. To me it seems somewhat unlikely to release another Air with the A12 but I guess that's what they did with the 7th gen iPad (with the A10 in that case) so it's not unprecedented. In my opinion it is more likely that it will be released following the release of new iPad Pro with (presumably) an A14X chip, then it will have at least an A13 and probably an A14 chip.
 
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I own a total of 10 iOS devices from 2012-2018 with Lightning connectors and have yet to have the port fail on any of them. Perhaps Apple isn’t the issue.

I have owned plenty of those myself and beg to differ.
 
In terms of breaking the USB-C is a real POS - far inferior to either the Lightening of (my favorite) the MagSafe. I've already had 3 break because of the MacBook being dropped and I now buy 2 at a time. Too damn "DAINTY" for my liking.
 
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