At last month's "Time Flies" event, the 2020 iPad, Apple Watch 6, and Apple Watch SE were unveiled and released almost immediately. The all-new iPad Air was also unveiled, but the company did not give a release date, saying only that the thin tablet would appear sometime in October.

A third of October is now past, and there is still no sign of the iPad Air 4. First, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman tweeted that "Shipments of the new device have started landing in Apple stores to open at a later date." He felt this was "too early for the iPhone," adding that it probably means a new iPad Air.

Later, another leaker, Jon Prosser, revealed that Apple will tell us the iPad Air release date at Tuesday's iPhone 12 event.

That seems sensible to us. Why wouldn't Apple take the opportunity to remind an audience already excited about the iPhone 12 that its newest tablet will also make an excellent companion?

Neither leaker gave an actual release date, but it would not be at all surprising if Apple decided to launch the iPad Air right after the event. In any case, buyers will not have long to wait, as there are only three weeks left in the initial launch period.

We already know how the new iPad Air improves on the previous model. First, it has an edge-to-edge display and has been redesigned to look more like the iPad Pro than before. The home button is gone, but Touch ID has simply been moved to the power button; there is support for the Magic Keyboard and a second-generation Apple Pencil for scribbling and taking notes; and the iPad Air now supports the iPad Pro's new "iPad Pro" interface.

Of course, it wouldn't be an iPad upgrade without improved specs, and the new model is powered by Apple's latest A14 Bionic chip. Apple promised a 40% performance boost over the previous version, but leaked benchmarks suggest that if anything, the company was a bit modest on that front.

The new iPad Air is available in 64GB and 256GB models, priced at $599 and $749 for Wi-Fi connectivity only, and $729 and $879 for models with built-in cellular connectivity. A detailed review will be forthcoming.