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Will the next iPad Air have a full-screen design like the iPad Pro (pictured)?
Rumors and reports about the arrival of the next iPad on the ground are getting louder. In recent days, new iPads were specified in the Eurasian Economic Commission’s database, along with several new models of Apple Watch Series 6. And now there are reports of a new iPad Air with a radically new design. Could the two reports be linked to the same product? This is what we know so far.
Seven iPad models listed
The listings, detected by MacRumors, come in two parts, suggesting that two different iPads are being updated. One listing has two versions, the other has five. There’s no more detail than that, and the fact that they’re all running iPadOS 14, which is only in beta right now.
Both listings are a bit curious: why only two versions of the first model, why five for the other? Currently, the iPad Pro 12.9, iPad Pro 11, iPad Air, and iPad mini each have four model numbers, one for the wi-fi-only versions, three for cell phones. The exception is the entry-level iPad which has three associated model numbers.
So what iPads will they be?
There have been persistent rumors of an updated iPad Pro coming soon, so it’s likely one of them. But the other could be the iPad or the iPad Air. Although the Air has waited longer than the iPad for an update, it could still be an entry-level tablet that is gearing up for launch in the coming weeks.
What about this newly designed iPad Air?
Leakage DuanRui has tweeted images of what is supposedly an iPad Air manual. Now if you’re saying to yourself, “I’ve literally never seen one of those,” then you’re not alone. They exist in the form of user guides that Apple creates and places in the Books app store (they are free).
But this looks a little different. Still, it is not unconvincing and certainly fascinating. It shows an iPad with a screen that covers most of the front of the tablet, like the iPad Pro, albeit with slightly larger bezels. Which means it has Face ID, you might think.
In fact, it has Touch ID but in a different place, somewhere Apple has never put a fingerprint sensor before.
Touch ID on a button
The sleep / wake button on the top edge of the iPad is, according to the tweeted document, the home of Touch ID. The document, which is in Spanish, refers to Touch ID by name and confirms that its purpose is to unlock the screen and pay for things using Apple Pay.
This is serious?
Good question. The truth is that it is difficult to say. This is certainly a sea change, one that Apple has resisted before. But it has the big advantage of offering a full-screen iPad Air, while saving the high-end Face ID system for the iPad Pro.
The next iPad Air could switch to the same USB-C connector seen here on the iPad Pro.
USB-C
In one of the illustrations, in the corner and at an angle, it mentions a USB-C connector, which is currently only found on one iPad, the iPad Pro. This is another major update to the iPad Air that is predicted here.
What else does it tell us?
There’s a single camera, Smart Connector on the back, and the same mechanics for starting the Control Center, for example, as on the iPad Pro rather than the current system on the iPad Air and other devices with Touch ID on the front. Other rumors say that the next iPad Air will have a version of the A14 chip expected in the iPhone 12.
So what is the bottom line?
I’ll be honest, I’m a bit skeptical. I think it looks fantastic and I really want it to be true, but there are other rumors that the iPad Air will be updated in early 2021. That seems more credible to me and fits with the idea that the A14 chip will work. It will be included a few months after its appearance on iPhones this fall.
Which leaves us with what the next iPads listed in the database will be and when they will arrive.
The iPad that comes in two versions may be an iPad Pro with a faster processor, available only in the highest storage settings, one with wi-fi, one with more cellular wi-fi.
What leaves the other iPad. If it’s not the heavily updated iPad Air that was mentioned above, and overall I think it won’t be, then I think it will be an upgrade to the entry-level iPad. Sure, this was only updated last September, but Apple is committed to the iPad. An update at this stage would confirm its position as a high-value and prominent device.
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