Update: Jon Prosser has reiterated that the iPad Air 4 will be available for pre-order starting October 16 and shipping is expected to begin October 23.
Apple announced the iPad Air 4 at its September 15 event alongside new Apple Watches. At the event, the Cupertino company said that the new iPad Air will be available starting October. Almost two weeks into October, it isn’t available yet.
Leaker Jon Prosser, who has a reliability score of 74.5%, according to AppleTrack, believes that is because Apple doesn’t want the A14 chip in the iPad Air 4 to “make it into people’s hands before iPhone 12.”
He also speculates that Apple will be “doing pre-orders and shipping iPad Air at the same time as iPhone 12.”
The iPhone 12 will see a staggered launch according to rumors. Particularly, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro will become available for pre-order and shipping first. Moreover, the preorders for those devices are expected to begin on October 16, and shipping is expected to begin on October 23. If today’s rumor is true, we could expect a similar launch timeline for the iPad Air 4 as well.
Earlier this month, speculation ensued that the iPad Air 4 launch was imminent. It wasn’t. Another rumor popped up recently that suggested the launch for the device once again as Apple had started stuffing up stores with new units.
Since this seems to be just speculation, albeit supposedly an informed one, I suggest you take this with a pinch of salt. It could turn out that Apple launches the iPad Air 4 right after the event tomorrow, judging by Apple’s super-weird event lineup.
