All-screen iPad Air to skip Face ID, Apple Watch could be redesigned in 2021

The Apple Watch could be redesigned next year

The Apple Watch Series 6, as has been predicted quite a number of times before, will closely resemble the older Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5. Kuo says the "major selling point" is the introduction of a blood oxygen sensor for more accurate health tracking.

Bloomberg earlier claimed this would be combined with a faster custom chipset, which could be called the Apple S6. Whether the performance bump will be noticeable or underwhelming remains to be seen.

Apple implemented decent performance increases that made an impact on daily use with every release until the Watch Series 4. However, the Series 5 barely moved the needle and with few complaints from customers, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Watch Series 6 follow a similar pattern. 

Mass production of the next-generation Apple Watch is scheduled to start in mid-September, according to Ming-Chi Kuo. The usually reliable analyst didn't provide a release timeline, but history suggests it could happen as early as next week. Of course, COVID-19 has severely impact production of Apple products, so a delay into October would be understandable. 

As for the future, Ming-Chi Kuo believes a “significant form factor design change” could come to the Apple Watch as soon as the second half of next year. Of course, that likely isn’t set in stone yet, but it means the Apple Watch Series 7 may look a lot different. 

The iPad Air will use side-mounted Touch ID

Arriving alongside the updated Apple Watch looks set to be the fourth-generation iPad Air. Ming-Chi Kuo corroborates past reports that have mentioned a revised designed based on the iPad Pro.

To ensure the tablet is affordable enough, though, Apple plans to reduce costs by skipping 120Hz ProMotion technology. Face ID has proven popular in recent years but also costly, so Apple is doing away with that biometric system as well.

Kuo says it's being substituted by Touch ID embedded within the side-mounted power button. That's never been done by Apple before – it has always placed the sensor inside the physical home button – but it could end up being a preview of a future iPhone implementation. 

The analyst says more iPad models will start adopting the side-mounted Touch ID design next year. Likely candidates include the iPad mini and entry-level iPad, both of which still use the old physical home button and boast thick bezels. 

Apple's iPad Pro is another potential candidate, although in this case Touch ID is unlikely to replace Face ID. Instead, the Cupertino giant could offer both alongside each other so that users have a choice.

Like the Apple Watch Series 6, the iPad Air 4 should enter mass production in mid-September. An official release date hasn't been provided, but again it could take place either next week or at some point in October depending on the impact COVID-19 has had on production.