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iOS 11.3 Firmware Subtly Hints at iPad With Face ID

Thursday January 25, 2018 7:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is planning to release a next-generation iPad Pro this year with slim bezels and Face ID, like the iPhone X, according to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg News, and evidence of the tablet may have been uncovered in iOS 11.3.

iPad Pro with Face ID mockup by Carlos Guerra

iHelpBR editor Filipe Espósito has discovered strings in the first iOS 11.3 beta that refer to a "modern iPad," which is notable since Apple's software engineers referred to the iPhone X as the "modern iPhone" in older firmware, according to both Espósito and developer Guilherme Rambo.


While the "modern iPad" strings could be placeholders, as commonly found in Apple's code, the discovery lends credence to rumors of an iPad Pro with Face ID, which would certainly be a logical next step in Apple's product roadmap.


KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also expects Apple to release a new iPad Pro with Face ID this year, so there is a good chance the rumor is true. Like the iPhone X, the tablet reportedly lacks a Home button, although it will likely still have an LCD instead of OLED display due to supply, cost, and technological constraints.

It's unclear if the iPad Pro will have a notch for the TrueDepth system, as illustrated in the first mockup above, or if the device will have uniformly slim bezels on all four sides with enough room for the Face ID sensors.

iPad Pro with slim bezels rendered by Benjamin Geskin

Face ID is also expected to be featured on a second-generation 5.8-inch iPhone X, a larger 6.5-inch version dubbed iPhone X Plus, and a new, cheaper 6.1-inch model with an LCD, aluminum frame, and no 3D Touch.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Tag: Face ID
Buyer's Guide: 11" iPad Pro (Caution), 12.9" iPad Pro (Caution)
[ 186 comments ]

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InuNacho
23 months ago
How are you supposed to hold an iPad that looks like one in the mock-up? You can't hold an iPad like a phone with your fingers wrapped around the sides.
Rating: 51 Votes
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Anthropogenesis
23 months ago
As someone that is firmly in the notch-hating group, I hope this doesn't happen to the iPad too. Leave a bit of bezel at the top for the sensors to hide.
Rating: 48 Votes
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trekkie604
23 months ago
Keep the bezels on the ipad so there is 1. a place to hold the ipad all around, 2. no ugly cyclops notch.
Rating: 27 Votes
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Böhme417
23 months ago
Just wait until you can only unlock it in portrait orientation.
Rating: 20 Votes
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Corrode
23 months ago
iPad with FaceID is a natural progression, but isn’t an iPad more often a multi-user device? This is where TouchID is handy for having multiple people’s fingerprints verified.
Rating: 17 Votes
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pete2106
23 months ago
I've been thinking about updating my iPad Air 2. Perhaps this is the one.
Rating: 16 Votes
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jimbobb24
23 months ago
Don't need FaceID as much as multi-user support on iPads. I also worry that the loss of home button will make the iPads unusable by children. The home button allows my children to always get back to home base and correct problems. Gestures are not intuitive in the same way.

Also defacing a supposed work machine with that notch is a bad idea. My laptop doesn't need a notch for a camera or anything else. If Apple wants me to do work on an iPad - no notch please.
Rating: 16 Votes
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Baymowe335
23 months ago
iPad won't have a notch. You heard it here first.
Rating: 13 Votes
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Appleaker
23 months ago
Maybe you should make your own mock-up in the future. There is no need for a notch on the new iPad Pros due to the thicker bezel. The idea that Apple will keep the notch for consistency is nonsensical, and having a notch would defeat part of the iPads ‘magic’ which is its ability to be used in any orientation. That’s not to say it won’t happen, but it isn’t necessary and I would call it unlikely.
Rating: 10 Votes
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dlewis23
23 months ago

How are you supposed to hold an iPad that looks like one in the mock-up? You can't hold an iPad like a phone with your fingers wrapped around the sides.


It has this thing called palm rejection. A iOS device knows when your palm or thumb it just resting on the screen to hold the device and rejects its inputs.
Rating: 10 Votes

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