There are a lot of weird rumors surrounding the upcoming iPad Air 4, and I think we finally
figured it out, so in this video, we’re going to break down those rumors, and discuss
which features we should expect and why Apple would make those changes.
But first, I want to talk about the current status of the iPad Air.
To be honest, it’s in a really weird spot right now. The 2020 iPad Pro just came out
and it offers much better value compared to the Air, especially since it gets a 128GB
SSD at the base price.
And on the lower end, you can get a 10.2” iPad for $280 right now, which comes with
a smart connector, so it supports the same great keyboard cases as the Air does, like
the Logitech Combo Touch which comes with a trackpad and keyboard.
And of course, you have the iPad Mini 5 for $400 if you want the same fast chip and display
features.
So right now, it doesn’t really make sense to buy the iPad Air compared to the other
options, so with the upcoming iPad Air, Apple has to make it seem worth spending the extra
cash over the budget iPad and iPad Mini, while at the same time, it can’t be so good that
it cannibalizes the sales of the $800 iPad Pro.
So how does Apple achieve this?
Well, let’s first take a look at some rumors on this new iPad Air, and by the way, shoutout
to Tailosive Tech for his excellent videos on this topic.
Last month, we got a supply chain rumor about a new 23 iMac and an 11-inch iPad coming in
the second half of this year, which is certainly talking about the iPad Air since we already
got an iPad Pro redesign this year.
And then it got weird when just a few days ago, more rumors came suggesting a 10.8”
iPad coming this year and an iPad Mini with a larger size coming next year.
My first thought was maybe this 10.8” iPad is just the budget iPad with a larger display,
possibly getting rid of the home button, but it just doesn’t make sense because it’s
meant to be as cheap as possible, and they literally just bumped up the display to 10.2”
about 8 months ago.
So I’m sure that this 10.8” iPad rumor is also talking about the iPad Air, but which
one is it, 10.8 or 11? Well, get ready for this one, we think that it’s actually both,
and let me explain why.
When the 11” iPad Pro came out with the brand new design, the iPad Air 3 was built
with the iPad Pro’s old 10.5” design.
Now what if Apple does this again? Imagine the iPad Air 4 being built with the 2018 11”
iPad Pro’s design.
This would mean that it would come with support for the Apple Pencil 2 and it’s wireless
charging feature, the new modern square-edged design, and the new rounded-corner display.
But Apple has to be careful because they can’t make it so good that people stop buying the
iPad Pro, so how do they achieve this?
Well, instead of having an 11” display, it would come with a 10.8” display.
So both the 11” and 10.8” rumors would make sense at the same time if the chassis
was identical to the iPad Pro, but the display itself was slightly smaller.
If you think about it, the 11” iPad Pro introduced a brand new 1.43:1 aspect ratio,
so if the new iPad Air maintains the old 4:3 aspect ratio, then the display size could
actually be 10.8” while using the same exact metal chassis. It would just have slightly
larger bezels on the top and bottom of the display.
So this would make the new 10.8” iPad Air look modern and appealing, but the display
on the iPad Pro would be slimmer and look better.
However, there still needs to be more differences to make the iPad Pro worth the extra $300.
So I think the Air is gonna come with the less-powerful A13 processor, which, keep in
mind, is already in every single new iPhone including the iPhone SE, making it cheaper
since they can mass produce it on a higher scale.
It’s also not gonna have 120hz ProMotion display technology, it’s not gonna have
quad-speakers, it’s not gonna have the new LiDAR scanner or the new ultrawide camera,
it’s not gonna have 600 nits of display brightness, and it’s not gonna have studio-quality
microphones.
These differences would be just enough to make it worth spending $300 more for the iPad
Pro if you can afford it, but at the same time, the newer square-edged design makes
it really appealing compared to the budget iPad options, pushing more people toward the
new iPad Air.
Now there are a few features that I’m not totally sure about. There’s a chance it’ll
come with Face ID and there’s a chance that it’ll come with a brand new under-display
fingerprint sensor.
And there’s also a chance it’ll come with a USB-C port, but it might even come with
the old Lightning port to differentiate it a bit more. So I’m not completely sure about
these two features.
But what I do know for sure, is if the new iPad Air shares the same chassis as the current
iPad Pro, then it is 100% going to support the new Magic Keyboard case.
The reason this makes sense is because that keyboard case likely has very high profit
margins, so even if someone spent less money and chose the iPad Air over the Pro, Apple
can later sell them on a Magic Keyboard case and make that difference back.
And if you’ve seen my video on why that case is Apple’s Master Plan, then you’ll
know that Apple wants as many of these keyboard cases in the hands of buyers as possible,
since the Magic Keyboard and its unique floating iPad design is meant to be a symbol of the
Apple brand.
So there you have it. We get an iPad Air refresh that looks fresh and modern, making people
want to spend more on an iPad purchase, while also not being good enough to cannibalize
their iPad Pro sales. And the cherry on top is the Magic keyboard case support to help
Apple earn some extra profit after the fact.
Now there are some rumors going around about this iPad Air getting a Mini-LED display,
but I can almost guarantee that no iPad is getting a Mini-LED display before the iPad
Pro gets it first, and that probably won’t happen until 2021, and then only after that,
we can expect the rest of the iPads to get the Mini-LED display.
So the whole point of this video is.. If you’re thinking about buying either the budget iPad,
the iPad Mini or the iPad Air, you should totally stop and wait for the new iPad Air.
But if you’re interested in the iPad Pro, go ahead and order one now since the iPad
Air is still going to be missing a lot of Pro features.
And if you do decide to go with the Pro, we’ll have links to the best deals on those Pro
models down in the description below, so go ahead and tap that like button and click the
circle above to subscribe if you want to see more videos like this one. Thanks for watching,
and we’ll see you in the next video!