New iPad Pro still coming and might be better than expected

By JC Torres/Sept. 18, 2018 10:53 pm EST

Apple's iPhone XS event, while expected, may have disappointed some Apple fans. Especially those who expected more than just a new iPhone or a new Apple Watch. Especially those who were wishing for a new iPad Pro. It might be too early to give up all hope, though, because new hints are popping up pointing to exactly that, probably next month even. But even better, the new iPad Pro might not be as bad as some might have thought it would be.

On the one hand, it wasn't completely unexpected that Apple would devout its stage time to just the three new iPhones and the Series 4 Apple Watch. Those alone already took up a lot of time. In fact, even the possibility of new iPads, specifically iPad Pros, wasn't that certain anyway. The signs says they do exist, but it has always been a question of when.

If iOS 12.1, which has just landed in beta, is any indication, the answer is "this fall". 9to5Mac dug into some code to reveal reference to an "iPad2018Fall" in the Settings app. iOS 12.1's "Memoji syncing" feature also "confirms" that this iPad would have a TrueDepth camera for Memojis and, of course, Face ID.

Of course, that was already expected but it was also believed that the camera would force the iPad Pro into a portrait orientation. Not so, says developer Steve Troughton-Smith. His analysis of iOS 12.1 reveals support for landscape orientation for Face ID, at least for iPads only. That could mean Apple didn't move the location of the iPad camera after all. More interesting is the theory that the iPad Pro would have a USB-C port rather than a traditional Lightning port, again hinted by iOS 12.1.

That may have just made the upcoming iPad Pro even more tempting to those who may have been on the fence because of the forced portrait orientation. All that's left now is to wait if Apple will actually launch a new iPad this year. If the Fall launch is on the mark, we might be looking at an October announcement for what could be the biggest change in the iPad line since the iPad Pro in 2015.