As to the “Air” name... they got to where they had a solid low-priced offering and a “Pro” line with huge prices. And a big hole in the middle. But “iPad Medium” wasn’t appealing, so they resurrected the “Air” name. (FWIW, writing this on an iPad Air 3, and I love it - the only real loss for me, from the Pro, was the “ProMotion” variable rate 120Hz display, and I could live without that, for $$$ less.)
I had figured this would spread to the other iPads ASAP because of the Pencil 2, but they seem happy to drag it out for a couple of years.
If anything, I'd rather they put the charging hardware in the front bezel somewhere, since that's already flat. Not a good place for storage or for charging the pencil while the iPad is in use, but at least you wouldn't get stranded with a dead stylus and no charging gizmo.
I have a second Apple Watch charger at work (albeit a cheaper 3rd party one) for that exact reason. I don't typically need it, but if I forget to charge the watch some evening and realize that it's at 10% when I get to work the next morning, backup charger is handy. Wouldn't want to lose this Move streak!
Sure, I could get a spare charger for a second-gen Pencil too, but it would be a downgrade from the first-gen Lightning charging which doesn't need anything extra.
It really is that much better of an experience. Just the ergonomics of magnetic storage and charging make a world of difference. And the pencil feels natural in your hand instead of like a stylus.
Sure they’re still not on the level of a circa 2010 Wacom Intuos – damn I loved that thing – but there’s no comparison. Pay the extra $300 to get a Pro with Pencil 2 if you can.
Now I’n thinking of getting a keyboard as well because the unimaginable is happening - my 2017 MBP feels cumbersome compared to the iPad. Only for Very Serious Work.
The magnets are strong enough to keep it in place during normal use, but there's no way to put it in a bag and retrieve it without the Pencil flying off.
I eventually got a third-party case that does the right thing, it's just a strange oversight.
Apple doesn’t really release new budget devices; the case may change, but once technology has advanced enough to release an improved top-end device and parts prices for the existing product have fallen enough, they package the parts of the former top-end device in a new lower-priced device.
The newer low-end models have various changes from the previous high-end models, including case changes, but also other hardware. The original low-end iPhone SE had the plastic case with the hardware of the 5-something - but a smaller display. The iPad mini had the guts of an iPad 2, except it was a smaller device, requiring a new motherboard and display, and it had a better camera, too.
Similarly, the 2017 iPad was closest to the iPad Air 2, just a bit thicker with more battery, but it also had a new CPU and brighter display.
That pattern of component upgrades and size changes continues, and as the GP mentioned, Pencil 2 support (magnets and charging) hasn't trickled down to any non-pro devices yet, in spite of new releases to those non-pro devices.
My son's friends make fun of him for the small screen size of the SE compared to their 7s and 8s but he just says he's dropped it hundreds of times and it's working fine. It's in a case, of course.
You're thinking of the iPhone 5c, which came out at the same time as the 5s -- well before the SE, which, slightly confusingly, was released after the 6. The SE has always had a metal body.
So that gives another example of apples making a new low-end device from a mix of old and new components.
5c new plastic body, better front camera and LTE than 5.
SE new low-end device with display of 5s, processor and back camera of 6s, front camera of ??, etc.
And iPhones too, I just used iPhone with USB powered hub, USB mic and USB DAC for headphones, worked great :)
Since the new series 5 is a very minor incremental upgrade from the 4, they discontinued the latter, but still sell the 3. This way the comparison table between 3 and 5 make it seem like the 5 was a bigger improvement.
And why is the iPad peripheral system such a mess? The released the pencil 2 which is a significant usability improvement and had every indication of replacing the pencil 1, but that was years ago and they keep releasing new pencil 1 only devices, while just calling both of them “Apple Pencil” in many places. If you want a good pencil now, there’s no way to buy a moderately specced machine with it, you have to pay for the pro with more compute power than a high end laptop.
And ipads now have full usb host support, but instead of marketing that as a perk, they kind of pretend it doesn’t exist by calling it the “camera kit” like it only has one specific use.