I am sure pandemic restrictions and supply chain issues had nothing to do with delaying a chassis replacement. Then again from a marketing standpoint have it done for the 10th/X generation like the iPhone would also make for great headlines and press coverage. 10.5” display with power button TouchID, USB-C and smaller body but maybe the same curved sides vice a flat edge design to separate it from the Air.
No chassis redesign, no USB-C, no significant upgrades besides new wireless chips, new CPU chip, maybe better cameras.
The 10.2” iPad is the bottom tier iPad that’s aimed at the most casual of all Apple consumers and educational institutions who simply need nothing more than an iPad that can run all the apps in the AppStore and comes in at an affordable price.
iPad Air is middle tier, and Pro is flagship.
Apple is not putting USB-C in the bottom tier iPad as it’s a feature that encroaches on Air and Pro territory.
Many consumers would gladly save money and just get the lowest spec 64GB 10.2” iPad if it had the same great storage and display connections that USB-C offers on the Air and Pro. And this is exactly why Apple refuses to put it in the 10.2” iPad.
Apple is not giving the bottom tier ipad a redesign until iPad Air moves on from its current design.
It’s basic “up-selling” strategy: You can’t get a consumer to buy the medium fries if the small fries is not a significantly and obvious smaller amount than the medium fries.
Apple also does not and has not kept old designs and done weird semi-overhauls, like taking an old chassis and moving it from Touch ID to Face ID, or put an OLED or edge to edge display in a on LCD model that had a bezel design.
Apple only “upgrades” bottom tier iPads and iPhones by taking old designs and doing easy upgrades on them that don’t require significant r&d(not by comparison to doing a new design at least): New CPU, new cameras, wireless charging, fast charging, better wireless, etc.
This is also why the SE 2022 will not get a redesign or jump to the XR/11 body -The 11 is still in the official 2021-2022 lineup on apple.com and still going strong in sales. It’s only when the XR/11 design is pushed out of the lineup that the SE can move away from the iPhone 8 design. This will happen no earlier than fall 2022. But SE 2022 launches in Q1-Q2 so it’ll be another iPhone 8 repeat with upgrades (iPhone 8 Plus if we’re lucky so it can accommodate the 5G battery drain, but I doubt it).