(I've said this in a few threads, but it probably makes sense to start a separate discussion about it.)
The A12Z in the current iPad Pro and the ARM Mac mini DTK is powerful enough to match the current 2020 MacBook Air WITH ROSETTA 2. Certainly, it has the power to best the current 2020 13" MacBook Pro. Plus, it clearly fits in a thermal envelope as thin as the current iPad Pro without needing a fan.
If you put an Apple SoC that requires even the cooling of the current 2020 MacBook Air, it would run circles around the current Intel 2020 13" MacBook Pro.
My prediction: I think Apple is going to merge the MacBook Air and the 13" MacBook Pro moving into the ARM transition.
Why? The things separating the 2020 MacBook Air and the 13" MacBook Pro is processing power, a 32GB RAM option, a TouchBar, and maybe two extra USB-C connectors. If you upgrade the MacBook Air with an Apple SoC that completely runs circles around the current 10th-gen based 13" MacBook Pro, fits the Air's current thermal envelope, give it two more USB-C ports, the option for 32GB of RAM, and give or take a TouchBar, what need is there for a 13" MacBook Pro? If the idea is to make a thinner 13" MacBook Pro (while keeping the scissor-switch, of course) because Apple now can, at what point does the MacBook Air become repetitive?
Right now, you effectively have three 13" Macs. You have the MacBook Air, the 8th-Gen Intel 13" MacBook Pro with two ports and the 10th-Gen Intel 13" MacBook Pro. The 8th-Gen based MacBook Air is basically the spiritual successor of the 2010-17 MacBook Air, which only existed to offer a lighter machine that could fit into a smaller thermal envelope at the expense of speed. These three different machines exist as a result of the speed and chipset disparities thereof and how that affects the enclosures that they're in. If there's no speed expense or thermal constraints for making a machine that fits in a MacBook Air-sized body, but otherwise has speeds that run circles around the 10th Gen Intel 13" MacBook Pro of current and the few features that said 13" Pro has over the Air, why do we need a 13" MacBook Pro at all? I guess whether the new machine be called a 13" MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air doesn't really matter. If the best of both worlds scenario can be achieved at the cost of the Air, then we don't need two computers, no?
Thoughts?