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iPad iPad Air 2020 thread!

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Norre8

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2018
621
478
joeblow7777 said:
Not to be a killjoy, but it just says shipment of devices are arriving. Only guessing that it’s the new Airs. Could just be replenishing supply of something else for all we know.
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It says new devices. Replenishing a device by definition is an old device. Plus the marketing was sent out last week. Still doesn't mean it'll be available anytime soon.
 
Furman

Furman

macrumors regular
Sep 25, 2015
110
97
Greenville, SC
Norre8 said:
It says new devices. Replenishing a device by definition is an old device. Plus the marketing was sent out last week. Still doesn't mean it'll be available anytime soon.
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It will be available in October. The last time I checked, that is this month, which means very soon!
 
J

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,192
9,036
Furman said:
It will be available in October. The last time I checked, that is this month, which means very soon!
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Well, “soon” is relative. We all know that it will be available in October, so when people say “soon”, I think they mean maybe sometime next week, and when they say “not soon” that’s like 3 weeks from now.
 
J

jbpdx

macrumors newbie
Oct 9, 2020
3
4
joeblow7777 said:
Well, “soon” is relative. We all know that it will be available in October, so when people say “soon”, I think they mean maybe sometime next week, and when they say “not soon” that’s like 3 weeks from now.
Click to expand...
 
J

jbpdx

macrumors newbie
Oct 9, 2020
3
4
I don’t understand the delay and inability to at least order it. I’ve decided to scrap getting the new iPad Air. I bought the new Watch and I’m getting the new iPhone but that’s it. I’ll make due with my current iPad probably for 2 more years.
 
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joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,192
9,036
jbpdx said:
I don’t understand the delay and inability to at least order it. I’ve decided to scrap getting the new iPad Air. I bought the new Watch and I’m getting the new iPhone but that’s it. I’ll make due with my current iPad probably for 2 more years.
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Sounds like you didn't actually need a new iPad anyway and just wanted to buy something. So to be honest, you should be happy that Apple saved you from making an unnecessary impulse purchase.
 
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I

iFan

macrumors regular
Jan 3, 2007
248
723
In all my years of working at Apple stores, we never once received a product in store before it was officially available for shipping. This excludes situations like a known iPhone launch where we would get product 2 days in advance. This is extremely unusual.

We did, however, sometimes receive marketing materials in sealed boxes that would say "do not open until XX date" before a certain promotion would start like back to school. I'm guessing this is a similar situation. However, if it is actual product, it needs to be checked in by BOH inventory people immediately, and I wonder what their systems show the device as. Probably has a dummy name in the system if I had to guess. Sometimes unnanounced product would be drop shipped to our store directly from China (no distribution facility in between) - and Apple corporate would actually hide the items from our shipping manifest until it was delivered. In normal cases, I could track what products were en route to our store.
 
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J

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,192
9,036
iFan said:
In all my years of working at Apple stores, we never once received a product in store before it was officially available for shipping. This excludes situations like a known iPhone launch where we would get product 2 days in advance. This is extremely unusual.

We did, however, sometimes receive marketing materials in sealed boxes that would say "do not open until XX date" before a certain promotion would start like back to school. I'm guessing this is a similar situation. However, if it is actual product, it needs to be checked in by BOH inventory people immediately, and I wonder what their systems show the device as. Probably has a dummy name in the system if I had to guess. Sometimes unnanounced product would be drop shipped to our store directly from China (no distribution facility in between) - and Apple corporate would actually hide the items from our shipping manifest until it was delivered. In normal cases, I could track what products were en route to our store.
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Interesting insight. Thanks for sharing. I'm really intrigued by this launch. At first, just because I'm really looking forward to getting one, but now also because what's going on seems to be something of a mystery. Now I'm trying to scrape together every clue I can find to figure out what's going on behind the scenes... Of course, I'll probably never really know. ?
 
F

Fishels

macrumors 6502
Feb 25, 2015
260
67
joeblow7777 said:
It's a folio case. It secures magnetically to and covers the back, while the cover protects the front. It's overpriced, but its so sleek and functional that I'll probably get one.
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Wow so they finally brought that back? Wonder why they have not offered that in a while? I wish they made one for air 3
 
J

joeblow7777

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2010
7,192
9,036
Fishels said:
Wow so they finally brought that back? Wonder why they have not offered that in a while? I wish they made one for air 3
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It's been available on the Pros for at least the last 2 generations. In fact, I think the Air 4 case is probably just the 2018 Pro case re-branded, as I think the camera cutout is the same. It hasn't been offered on non-pro models before now because it's entirely magnetic, and I believe the back part relies on magnets that are built into the back of the iPad. Only the Pros, and now the Air 4, have those magnets.

You can see it demonstrated here:
 
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Dino F

Dino F

Suspended
Sep 16, 2010
4,515
3,404
Croydon, South London, UK
joeblow7777 said:
It's been available on the Pros for at least the last 2 generations. In fact, I think the Air 4 case is probably just the 2018 Pro case re-branded, as I think the camera cutout is the same. It hasn't been offered on non-pro models before now because it's entirely magnetic, and I believe the back part relies on magnets that are built into the back of the iPad. Only the Pros, and now the Air 4, have those magnets.

You can see it demonstrated here:
Click to expand...

Its a shame that Apple now makes the iPad cases as polyethylene and all open around the edges. My Apple case which I have right now on my first gen iPad Air 2 is leather, which feels really nice, and also of course, has protection all around the sides too.

Seems like they‘ve gone a little bit backwards with their design choices and materials on these recently.
:(
 
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Furman

Furman

macrumors regular
Sep 25, 2015
110
97
Greenville, SC
joeblow7777 said:
Well, “soon” is relative. We all know that it will be available in October, so when people say “soon”, I think they mean maybe sometime next week, and when they say “not soon” that’s like 3 weeks from now.
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Yes it is relative. I'm 63 years old. Everything is moving too soon. I remember when I was little my mom used to say, "Time passes faster as you get older." At that time my thought was, "What in the world is she trying to say? There are 24 hours in a day. Time cannot move faster." As it turns out, she was a wise person. My point in all this is, be patient, our reward is coming as soon as it is supposed to happen. We will get our iPad4 when we get it, not a minute sooner.
 
Dstopsie

Dstopsie

macrumors 68020
Jun 22, 2010
2,214
3,161
LOS ANGELES BABY!!
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Dino F

Dino F

Suspended
Sep 16, 2010
4,515
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Croydon, South London, UK
....so looks like we’ll all have to wait until at least Tuesday then. :(

Lets hope that on Tuesday they don’t decide to merely just announce the new products and state that everything will be available for pre-order from Friday....!
 
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FrumpyGus

macrumors member
Oct 10, 2020
31
23
Honestly, this waiting around for the product to even be able to be preordered is really a huge misstep IMO. It doesn't create hype and many people's impulse to place an order is diminishing...the finished product was shown off a month ago...in tech world the clock already started and now it's just growing old by the day. I was already waiting days and weeks to buy the new Air and magic keyboard and keyboard for my wife to use. You HAVE to go with an upgrade in storage, because Apps and pics and everything will fill up the base 64GB in no time. The more I thought about it the more I was wondering why I didn't just buy the Pro for $45 more and get the better screen that is like 20% brighter for outside use and has all the pro camera lenses and Trudepth camera system with FaceID and LIDAR scanner and flash and a million other things...plus although the new 5nm A14 chip has a higher numerical place, it's just a 6 core chip with 4 core graphics versus the Pro's 7nm A12Z that is an 8 core and 8 graphics...the benchmark tests show superior performance in multi-processing. Pro has 4 speaker, versus Air's 2 speaker...Pro has 6GB RAM versus the rumored 4GB of the new Air...I ended up just buying the Pro...I really ended up being able to think it over and over and came to the conclusion that the color options didn't matter to me and that I might as well make the jump, because the price was worth the premium extra Pro tech that is normally only on a flagship iPhone. I never would have abandoned the Air if I wasn't given all this extra "wait around refreshing the screen everyday, every hour" time. What do others think?
 
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A

awmerkley

macrumors newbie
Oct 6, 2020
15
19
The more I thought about it the more I was wondering why I didn't just buy the Pro for $45 more and get the better screen that is like 20% brighter for outside use and has all the pro camera lenses and Trudepth camera system with FaceID and LIDAR scanner and flash and a million other things...
Click to expand...

The Air is nice but overpriced for what you get. But the high price-point and the uncertain launch date make the more expensive items look a lot more appealing, so I would in no way call whatever is happening right now a misstep.
 
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FrumpyGus

macrumors member
Oct 10, 2020
31
23
awmerkley said:
The Air is nice but overpriced for what you get. But the high price-point and the uncertain launch date make the more expensive items look a lot more appealing, so I would in no way call whatever is happening right now a misstep.
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"Misstep" was more in reference to Apple's marketing and logistics team. Although they are still selling a product, the timing just isn't the perfection that they are known for. Abandonment of the the product hype seems to have peaked and now starting to wane, which is not typical. Almost makes you wonder what logistical issues they may be experiencing in fulfillment channels. I have no real issue with the Air's price, but I never even considered going with the Pro until the Air's price started butting up to it and only THEN did I move over to the other product. It's not a loss for the company's revenue, but it is stealing away from proving to investors the sales quotas for the newly released products.
 
A

awmerkley

macrumors newbie
Oct 6, 2020
15
19
Abandonment of the the product hype seems to have peaked and now starting to wane, which is not typical.
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Perhaps, although judging by the number of comments that these threads get and the number of videos I see on YouTube reviewing an unreleased product, I would have to disagree.

It's not a loss for the company's revenue, but it is stealing away from proving to investors the sales quotas for the newly released products.
Click to expand...

The Air is going to sell out to the point that you'll need to wait a month+ if you don't order within the first day or two.
 
J

JaniceA84

macrumors newbie
Oct 10, 2020
10
6
FrumpyGus said:
"Misstep" was more in reference to Apple's marketing and logistics team. Although they are still selling a product, the timing just isn't the perfection that they are known for. Abandonment of the the product hype seems to have peaked and now starting to wane, which is not typical. Almost makes you wonder what logistical issues they may be experiencing in fulfillment channels. I have no real issue with the Air's price, but I never even considered going with the Pro until the Air's price started butting up to it and only THEN did I move over to the other product. It's not a loss for the company's revenue, but it is stealing away from proving to investors the sales quotas for the newly released products.
Click to expand...
I would have to agree that it is peculiar and very unApple to be like this. I'm sure that it is related to the pandemic issues, but I agree that them bringing a price point this close to a Pro level is not smart and IS siphoning off sales to the currently available and more tech packed 11 Pro. iPad Air's entry level 64GB is basically the only "deal" for people that want the much lower price point and the newer processor and Pencil2 function. Of course sales will go through and people will talk (it's an Apple product), but speculating the success to investors of the new Air will probably diminish if sales really are going to the Pro. Profit margin is most likely better for a Air (especially at 256GB)
 
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