Apple announces iPad Pro and Mac event for October 30th

I don't think the MacBook Air is aimed at the professional market.

One way of looking at it is to say that peripherals have lighting, and main devices have USB-C. The iPad pro is wholly a laptop replacement, not a temporary substitute.

The iPod was named as a "pod" as it had to dock with the "mothership" to charge and synchronize, and that thinking still seems to be around at Apple.

At least I still find it harder to operate my i-devices without occasionally connecting to itunes, than I find using my Android devices without connecting to a computer.

I think its more likely that they will eventually adopt USB-C completely, and the iPad Pro is a test bed for it. Being able to easily output video to a projector, TV or monitor will be a major feature for many professional iPad users.

It would be interesting to hear Apple story during the keynote about why they decided to go with USB-C instead of the lightning port we are used to.