I bought the new Air a couple of weeks ago, and it is a sweetheart. My wife has the Air 2, and the Air 3 is a much better device....not even close.
I am not sure what people expect for a $499 iPad, but the new Air checks all of the boxes for me. I understand that there are some 10.5 pros on sale right now, and they might be good deals. But, retailers are just moving our inventory of an older model, so these sales will eventually go away.
In the meantime, I think the Air 3 is a great choice for a lot of people. It fits a huge market in the middle. I, for one, cant see myself spending $1,000 on an iPad. But, I did want something nicer than the older base model with a two year old processor. Besides, the Air 3 comes with 64GB of storage, which is prefect for me. I would have had to buy more storage with the entry level iPad, since 32GB won’t cut it......
I understand that there are more sales on the base models, which might make them more attractive. Of course, the Air 3 will also see some nice discounts later in summer and as we approach the holidays.