UPDATED 23:23 EDT / NOVEMBER 08 2017

EMERGING TECH

Bezel-less iPad Pro with facial recognition reportedly in the works for 2018

Apple Inc. is reported to be working on an upgraded iPad that will feature some of the key elements from the company’s latest flagship smartphone, the iPhone X.

According to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter, Apple’s new iPad will launch later next year. Although the device is said to sport features such as facial recognition and slimmer edges, it will likely lack other iPhone X features like an organic light-emitting diode or OLED display.

Apple updated its iPad in June with the release of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro and introduced a budget $329 iPad earlier this year.

The global tablet market continues to decline, with a 5.4 percent decrease year over year for the third quarter of 2017, according to International Data Corp. This marks the 12th consecutive quarter of annual decline in the tablet market. Apple, however, has seen surprising growth over the last two quarters, with the company reporting iPad revenue of $4.8 billion during its quarter earnings last week, a 14 percent year-over-year bump. Although that’s great for Apple in a declining market, it is still far behind the $11.5 billion in revenue it achieved in the first quarter of 2014.    

With a year’s wait ahead, there are bound to be more rumors of features that will be packed into the 2018 iPad and ones that won’t make the cut. Here’s a look at the reports for the upcoming 2018 iPad and the renders that are already emerging:

Face ID

One of the main features of the iPhone X was Face ID, which uses a depth-sensing camera to recognize and track a user’s face using more than 30,000 IR dots. Face ID can be used to unlock the device, make payments and create animojis, which are Apple’s animated emojis.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, the upcoming 10.5-inch iPad will incorporate the same Face ID technology, completely replacing the device’s home button that had an incorporated fingerprint scanner since 2014.

The incorporation of Face ID fits with a report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo last month. Kuo said the next lineup of iPad Pros will incorporate the TrueDepth camera, but didn’t provide details of what would happen to the home button and Touch ID.

Bezel-less, but OLED is unlikely

With the removal of the home button, this will free up plenty of space and allow Apple to reduce the top and bottom bezel of the iPad significantly.

The bezel-less display will bring the iPad more in line with the iPhone X, but unlike the smartphone that contains an OLED display, this feature will likely be lacking from the 2018 iPad.

Although superior when it comes to more accurately reproducing colors, OLED displays are more difficult to manufacture on a large scale compared with standard liquid-crystal displays. The manufacturer of the iPhone X and the only company capable of producing OLED iPad screens is Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., but according to a source familiar with Samsung’s display operations, this is unlikely to happen for the 2018 iPad because of technical and financial constraints.

Renders of upcoming iPad Pro

As with any smartphone and tablet reports, the renderings follow quickly after and this is no different for the upcoming 2018 iPad.

Concept creator Benjamin Geskin shared these renders (main image and below), which show what a bezel-less iPad Pro with Face ID could look like.

2018-ipad-pro-render

Apple Pencil

Together with the updated iPad Pro, Apple is also reportedly working on a new Apple Pencil, as well as new software tools for the stylus.

Images: Benjamin Geskin

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