Next iPad Air Could Feature a USB-C Port Instead of a Lightning Port

[jimthing]

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.

I meant they release adapters when they move ports. Just like when 30-pin went to Lightning, it was THEN that adapters were released, as they weren't needed before.

Additionally, many people sell their old connector stuff to the later generation 2nd-hand market sector of users, and buy the new stuff knowing the connector will last them a decent amount of time. They typically get a decent return, being Apple related.

 

[Rob_2811]

The installed and active user base likely dwarfs that of Mac users.

Seems like its mostly elderly people tbh

 

[ericwn]

Seems like its mostly elderly people tbh

Not sure - do you refer to a statistic or is that just your perception? I know plenty of folks outside this forum who own iPads in various age groups.

 

[Rob_2811]

Not sure - do you refer to a statistic or is that just your perception? I know plenty of folks outside this forum who own iPads in various age groups.

Anecdata I know, but i'm doing some consulting work for a healthcare company here in the UK and the vast majority of people who use the iPad app are elderly.

I looked into it just out of curiosity as much as anything else, didn't find much to other than this US survey from Civic Science

 

[Mimiron]

wow, so revolutionary.

 

[Bustermd]

Seems like its mostly elderly people tbh

I don't think your perception is very accurate. My experience is that outside of tech enthusiasts, or those who need a laptop/desktop for their job or hobby (gaming, photography, etc), most people use a tablet (which the ipad has the overwhelmingly large market share of) as their main computing and digital media-consumption device. I suppose the elderly fall into that category which may explain your experience with the healthcare app.

My perception might certainly be skewed, but Apple has in the past reported iPad sales being greater than all major notebook brands put together. I think I'm not far off and certainly among people I know personally that is the case.

 

[ericwn]

Anecdata I know, but i'm doing some consulting work for a healthcare company here in the UK and the vast majority of people who use the iPad app are elderly.

I looked into it just out of curiosity as much as anything else, didn't find much to other than this US survey from Civic Science

Thanks much for sharing your experiences from the field. I think iPads certainly do have an appeal for seniors, but there’s a lot of factors at play likely for other groups, income, use case and what not.

Larger phones have certainly reduced the tablet use case for many, but dive into the iPad forum here or elsewhere and you’ll find users are from all over the place.

Anyways, appreciate that you took the time and brought the point across. It’s good that there’s so many good options for us computer users these days.

 

[fromsixtozero]

My personal prediction taking into account some recent rumors...

Base iPad 2020 (released in fall)

A12
Laminated, antireflective, but otherwise the same 10.2 display with bezels and physical home button, without true tone and P3 (or mayyybe the 10.5 display from ipad air 2019, but I think that might be a stretch due to price)
No 5G
Same cameras as 2019 (or at maximum slightly better selfie camera with 5-7mp)
Exact same body as 2019
Same Touch ID in home button
Same WiFi 5 and BT 4.2
Same 3GB RAM
Lightning
Starts at 32GB with the same pricing


iPad Air 2020 (released in fall)

A12 or A13 (more likely A12, because ipad pro 2020 has A12Z and A12 has still enough power. A13 only if they want to more distinguish Air 2020 from base iPad 2020, but I think it will be different enough due to upgraded body and display, which also cost more, so a saving needs to be done somewhere + base iPad had A10 for 2 generations)
WiFi 6 and 30 band LTE (same as ipad pro 2020)
All screen display similar to ipad pro 11, but possibly smaller screen, like 10.8 = slightly bigger bezels
Body recycled from ipad pro 11 (compatible with expensive magic keyboard, apple pencil 2 = more revenue)
4GB RAM (to compensate for more pixels and distinguish from base ipad 2020 and ipad air 2019)
Face ID (because it is not a pro feature anymore, think iphone xr, iphone 11 and because it is getting cheaper)
USB-C
No 5G (more expensive and not mainstream, will be introduced in iphone 12 and then ipad pro 2021)
No promotion (pro feature)
No mini-led (will be introduced in ipad pro 2021)
No lidar (pro feature)
Just one rear camera (pro feature, because unlike iphone xr/11, mainstream ipads are not used for photo shooting as much)
Starts at 64GB with the same pricing (more base storage = pro, mainstream users don't need as much base storage, this keeps starting price down, compensating for the new body and display and face id)


iPad Pro 2021 (March or WWDC 2021)

A14X
5G
Mini-led
Better/more cameras
etc..

iPad Mini 2021 (March or WWDC 2021)

Same as iPad air 2020, only smaller, so requires more time to develop before release.

 

[Marlon DLTH :)]

My personal prediction taking into account some recent rumors...

Base iPad 2020 (released in fall)

A12
Laminated, antireflective, but otherwise the same 10.2 display with bezels and physical home button, without true tone and P3 (or mayyybe the 10.5 display from ipad air 2019, but I think that might be a stretch due to price)
No 5G
Same cameras as 2019 (or at maximum slightly better selfie camera with 5-7mp)
Exact same body as 2019
Same Touch ID in home button
Same WiFi 5 and BT 4.2
Same 3GB RAM
Lightning
Starts at 32GB with the same pricing


iPad Air 2020 (released in fall)

A12 or A13 (more likely A12, because ipad pro 2020 has A12Z and A12 has still enough power. A13 only if they want to more distinguish Air 2020 from base iPad 2020, but I think it will be different enough due to upgraded body and display + base iPad had A10 for 2 generations)
WiFi 6 and 30 band LTE (same as ipad pro 2020)
All screen display similar to ipad pro 11, but possibly smaller screen, like 10.8 = slightly bigger bezels
Body recycled from ipad pro 11 (compatible with expensive magic keyboard, apple pencil 2 = more revenue)
4GB RAM (to compensate for more pixels and distinguish from base ipad 2020 and ipad air 2019)
Face ID (because it is not a pro feature anymore, think iphone xr, iphone 11 and because it is getting cheaper)
USB-C
No 5G (more expensive and not mainstream, will be introduced in iphone 12 and then ipad pro 2021)
No promotion (pro feature)
No mini-led (will be introduced in ipad pro 2021)
No lidar (pro feature)
Just one rear camera (pro feature, because unlike iphone xr/11, mainstream ipads are not used for photo shooting as much)
Starts at 64GB with the same pricing (more base storage = pro, mainstream users don't need as much base storage, this keeps starting price down, compensating for the new body and display and face id)


iPad Pro 2021 (March or WWDC 2021)

A14X
5G
Mini-led
Better/more cameras
etc..

iPad Mini 2021 (March or WWDC 2021)

Same as iPad air 2020, only smaller, so requires more time to develop before release.

I agree with you. I hope they don’t increase the prices with these changes.

 

[rp2011]

My personal prediction taking into account some recent rumors...

Base iPad 2020 (released in fall)

A12
Laminated, antireflective, but otherwise the same 10.2 display with bezels and physical home button, without true tone and P3 (or mayyybe the 10.5 display from ipad air 2019, but I think that might be a stretch due to price)
No 5G
Same cameras as 2019 (or at maximum slightly better selfie camera with 5-7mp)
Exact same body as 2019
Same Touch ID in home button
Same WiFi 5 and BT 4.2
Same 3GB RAM
Lightning
Starts at 32GB with the same pricing


iPad Air 2020 (released in fall)

A12 or A13 (more likely A12, because ipad pro 2020 has A12Z and A12 has still enough power. A13 only if they want to more distinguish Air 2020 from base iPad 2020, but I think it will be different enough due to upgraded body and display, which also cost more, so a saving needs to be done somewhere + base iPad had A10 for 2 generations)
WiFi 6 and 30 band LTE (same as ipad pro 2020)
All screen display similar to ipad pro 11, but possibly smaller screen, like 10.8 = slightly bigger bezels
Body recycled from ipad pro 11 (compatible with expensive magic keyboard, apple pencil 2 = more revenue)
4GB RAM (to compensate for more pixels and distinguish from base ipad 2020 and ipad air 2019)
Face ID (because it is not a pro feature anymore, think iphone xr, iphone 11 and because it is getting cheaper)
USB-C
No 5G (more expensive and not mainstream, will be introduced in iphone 12 and then ipad pro 2021)
No promotion (pro feature)
No mini-led (will be introduced in ipad pro 2021)
No lidar (pro feature)
Just one rear camera (pro feature, because unlike iphone xr/11, mainstream ipads are not used for photo shooting as much)
Starts at 64GB with the same pricing (more base storage = pro, mainstream users don't need as much base storage, this keeps starting price down, compensating for the new body and display and face id)


iPad Pro 2021 (March or WWDC 2021)

A14X
5G
Mini-led
Better/more cameras
etc..

iPad Mini 2021 (March or WWDC 2021)

Same as iPad air 2020, only smaller, so requires more time to develop before release.

No way they retain the base A12. Base A13, that i can believe,

 

[Zdigital2015]

No way they retain the base A12. Base A13, that i can believe,

Probably released in October.

$329 iPad will be A12
$399 iPad mini will be A13
$499 iPad Air (4th Gen) will be A13
$799 iPad Pro 11” will continue with A12Z
$999 iPad Pro 12.9” will continue with A12Z

The A12Z is still going to be faster than the A13 in the iPad Air (4th Gen). Besides it will be replaced shortly after (Q1/Q2 2021) with the A14X-based iPad Pro. Apple doesn’t care about an A13 iPad Air and an A12Z iPad Pro in their lineup for a brief period of time. Only commenters on this forum do.

 

[fromsixtozero]

I agree they probably want to keep starting price of air at 499$, because they don't want to increase the gap between base ipad which starts at 329$. But I think an all screen design, which will make the air very similar to pro + A13 at 499$ would keep a lot of people from buying the pro at 799$. Yes,A12Z is better in multicore and graphics, but A13 is better in single core, so the difference in power would not be so clear, so what would "pros" get for the extra 300$? Some more power, but in an older chip, promotion, 64GB more storage and one more camera+lidar.. That wouldn't be enough in my opinion to spend almost 40% more for a lot of people. Especially if they add also USB-C, suppory for magic keyboard/pencil 2 and face ID (or even touch id under screen). The difference now between pro (even the 2018 version) and air is much bigger. But I'm happy if you are right, would be a great buy.

 

[ajfahey]

Add usb-c to the iPhones and lets dump the lightening connector altogether!

Hell yeah! I am so done with Lightning. I would prefer no connector over lightning and just barely prefer a USB-C connector over a completely wireless solution, even if that means buying and installing wireless chargers everywhere. Eventually the market will figure how to deploy inductive charging everywhere and individual solutions won't be required. Wireless infrastructure is much less susceptible to handling and liquid damage in airports, hotel rooms and coffee shops and, integrated into furniture, much harder to steal.

 

[whatta]

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.

Even the 2020 iPP got the same chip as the earlier model so it's definitely not unprecedented. Keeping the same A12 and adding more ram and the Pro body would make sense this fall. If Air comes after the A14X Pro, then definitely an A14 in the Air.

 

[danmart]

I would prefer no connector over lightning and just barely prefer a USB-C connector over a completely wireless solution

They would need to have a rock-solid software-only recovery method before they remove the physical ports all together, in my opinion. One of the challenges with the Watch is that, if something serious goes wrong like a failed software update, it needs to go back to Apple as the user has no way of recovering it themselves. With an iPhone you can at least hook it up to iTunes and attempt a recovery that way.

With the huge iOS user base it will be far better for people to be able to self-serve recovery of a device rather than relying on sending them back to Apple.