iPad Pro 2018 is a real thing, even though it didn’t debut during last week’s Apple event. Turns out that the device or better said some proof about it appeared in the iOS 12.1 beta. The beta appeared the next day after iOS 12 was made available and has some hints about Face ID on the iPads.
Turns out that the iOS 12.1 beta contains code that hints that a new iPad really is coming this fall. The string “iPad2018fall” was uncovered by Guilherme Rambo, who checked out the innards of the code. This together with other leaks hints at new Apple tablets coming before the end of the year. It could be an iPad Pro with Face ID and an edge to edge screen with notch.
It’s not very clear if we will indeed get two diagonal sizes or only one. Previously there was talk about a 12.9 inch model and an 11 inch iPad, both with Apple Pencil, perhaps even a gen 2 Pencil. We are also expecting narrower bezels for the slates, no more Home button of course and probably quad speakers. The software that leaked shows that you can sync Memojis between devices.
Developers have noticed that the feature appears in the previous iOS 12 betas, plus support for AvatarKit. Apple moved the iPad’s clock from the center to the left of the status bar, as we saw weeks ago, making room for an iPhone X style notch. We’ve also heard that USB Type-C ports are coming, as well as powerful CPUs, perhaps Apple A12X ones. Previous iPad Pros were unveiled in November, so we expect a similar time frame.
