According to prominent leaker Komiya, Apple's iPad Air 2020 may not arrive this year, and the fourth-generation Air will actually arrive in early 2021.

The leaker tweeted that the next iPad Air will appear next March. While this may be disappointing for those who want the new mid-range Apple tablet now, the iPad Air is expected to come with upgrades that will make it worth the wait.

Most notably, the new iPad Air will ditch the rather archaic design of the current model, which practically inherited its aesthetic from the original iPad Pro. Instead, the next iPad Air will adopt the current iPad Pro 2020 design, which is almost entirely screen-only with slim bezels and no home button.

According to Komiya, the new iPad Air will use Apple's A14 chip, the same system-on-chip that the iPhone 12 is expected to feature. It will also feature a quad-speaker design like the iPad Pro, a USB-C port, and an 11-inch Liquid Retina display.

Storage capacities are expected to be 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB, although Komiya is not entirely sure about that; support for the Magic Keyboard and the latest Apple Pencil is also expected.

Unlike the iPad Pro with its dual rear camera array and LiDAR sensor, the upcoming iPad Air will have a simple single rear camera. This is expected to keep the iPad Air's price down to around $649.

In short, the iPad Air looks to be a fairly solid upgrade over current tablets. However, Komiya's prediction of an early 2021 release is interesting because Apple leaker Jon Prosser claims that the new iPad will be announced in September along with the Apple Watch 6 via press release.

However, Prosser did not say whether this is an iPad mini 6, a new iPad Air, or an upgraded iPad Pro. Therefore, Komiya's prediction could still be on target. We will just have to wait and see what Apple comes up with in September.