Apple iPad Pro 2018: 5 Expected Features

Post the launch of Apple’s iPhone X and iPhone 8 devices, rumors are abuzz about the company’s next offering — the 2018 iPad Pro tablet. The device is expected to gain from the features of the preceding iPhone.

According to smartphone analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, who works with the securities firm KGI, the next device will gain from features such as the iPhone X’s face recognition system and the company will unify its features across its devices. He stated in a note to MacRumors that the 2018 iPad Pro will probably come with a TrueDepth camera and the FaceID feature.

FaceID

Kuo believes that the feature will be available on the company’s most premium tablet — the iPad Pro and not the cheaper models such as the iPad or the iPad Mini. Kuo hasn’t stated if he believes that Apple will discard its TouchID fingerprint recognition system but chances are that Apple may not retain the TouchID system on the tablet. In the coming years, the company is expected to make the feature available across its line of products, which will give developers a chance to create iOS apps compatible with the feature.

This entails two other important features that may be endowed to the iPad Pro — a TrueDepth camera and an OLED display.

OLED Display

The OLED display seems to be more of an extension of the iPhone X design — Apple eliminated the home button on the display, which housed the TouchID. Since the 2017 iPad Pro comes with a similar home button to the iPhone 7, chances are that Apple will also eliminate the feature on the new device, it could also eliminate the bottom bezel, providing users more surface area to work with. Chances are that despite endowing the device with FaceID, Apple might retain some part of the bezels so that users can rest their fingers on this space while typing on the tablet.

TrueDepth Camera

The device might inherit iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera with all its features including floodlighting which makes the face recognition work in the dark too. According to Engadget, the TrueDepth camera might be the reason behind including the feature in the iPad Pro and not the company’s other tablets since the hardware makes for a premium pricing.

10nm Processor

The 2017 iPad Pro had the Apple A10X processor and the iPad Pro 2018 is expected to have an A11X processor. The A11X will gain from the iPhone X’s A11 processor and have a 10nm process, same as the Samsung Galaxy S8’s Snapdragon 835 processor. This process will make the tablet more efficient in terms of power and performance than the existing iPad Pro.

AR Compatibility

With the TrueDepth camera, the iPad Pro is expected to have compatibility with 3D sensing technology that Apple is using on its iPhone X. The reason behind unifying the feature across Apple’s products is the company's larger focus on augmented reality. The iPad Pro’s displays will give developers a chance to create more AR applications, which will be usable on both the iPhone X and the iPad Pro.