Apple is planning to make some big design changes to the iPad lineup next year, based on a new report that claims the tablet will ditch the home button.
Hot on the heels of the iPhone X, Apple plans to bring some of its $1,000 smartphone’s key features to the iPad Pro, giving the device the most drastic new look it’s seen since its debut in 2010.
After slumping for a few years, iPad sales saw a serious boost in 2017. Now Apple’s tablet could be primed for an all-out resurgence. Apple allegedly plans to add a True Depth camera and edge-to-edge display to the iPad, which could make it a more impressive laptop replacement.
“At least one new iPad model with a screen size similar to the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is planned to include Face ID for unlocking the device,” reports Bloomberg. The site’s sources claim the updated iPad Pro will launch in 2018, about a year after Apple announced the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.
Face ID for iPad Pro
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard Face ID will come to the iPad Pro next year. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo made the same claim about a month ago. It seems like a no-brainer of an upgrade, as long as Apple suppliers can produce enough components.
A faster processor and custom Apple GPU will likely be included in the 2018 iPad, along with some other new additions. Apple may also update its Apple Pencil in 2018, per the report. New software tools will supposedly accompany the next-gen stylus to make it more useful.
One feature the 2018 iPad Pro probably won’t pick up from Apple’s flagship smartphone: iPhone X’s shockingly great OLED display.
Samsung is the only company with the ability to produce the OLED screens Apple would want by 2018. However, financial and technical restraints make the switch to OLED screens for iPad Pro unlikely.
