iOS 12.1 Confirms Next-Gen iPad Pro Face ID In Portrait And Landscape Modes
Apple is expected to announce its next-generation iPad Pro and a few other devices at a scheduled press event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on October 30. In the days leading up to the event, a new beta build of iOS 12 has emerged, along with with a giant hint that the upcoming iPad Pro refresh will feature Face ID support.
There has been a whole bunch of rumors surrounding the iPad Pro leading in past several weeks. Back in September, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that Apple would ditch the Lightning connector on the new model in favor of the more common USB-C interface, though he wasn't clear if it would be used for anything other than charging the tablet.
Going back even further, it was posited in July that the new iPad Pro models would trade the home button for tinier bezels and Face ID. We'll have to wait and see if the home button truly disappears, but it appears that Face ID is imminent.
I guess I was right 😆 https://t.co/NVddh89MWV pic.twitter.com/kaxSd1SRGD
— Guilherme Rambo (@_inside) October 25, 2018
On Twitter, 9To5Mac's Guilherme Rambo posted a snippet of code from the latest iOS beta. It reads in no uncertain terms, "Face ID needs to be in portrait to learn how to recognize you. After Face ID has been set up, it will work in portrait and landscape." We suppose it's possible that Apple originally tooled around with Face ID and then decided against it, but that seems highly unlikely at this point.
Past rumors point to the new iPad Pro models arriving in 12.9-inch and 11-inch sizes, with a second generation Apple Pencil (stylus) in tow. As is typical of hardware refreshes, we also expect a bump in processing performance—the current generation features an Apple A10X SoC.
