iOS 12 Further Hints at New iPhone X-Styled iPad Pro with Animoji
Credit: Martin HajekToggle Dark Mode
With Apple’s nascent iOS 12 software update now circulating the developer and public beta circuits, keen-eyed observers are slowly but surely beginning to uncover new details hidden within its code reaffirming the existence of upcoming new Apple products.
The latest discovery in iOS 12 was highlighted this week by ever-reliable developer, Steve Troughton-Smith, who’s many previous discoveries have accurately alluded to the existence of Apple products including HomePod.
In his latest finding, Troughton-Smith appears to have uncovered new details in iOS 12 that reaffirm Apple’s ongoing development of a next-generation iPad Pro model boasting an iPhone X-inspired design — complete with TrueDepth camera technology and Face ID in lieu of Apple’s traditional hardware Home button.
Specifically, the developer appears to have uncovered an iPad-ready implementation of AvatarKit — Apple’s proprietary software framework responsible for driving the popular Animoji feature that’s presently exclusive to the company’s iPhone X.
New in iOS 12: AvatarKit comes to iPad. Still requires a TrueDepth camera to do face tracking, though, i.e. an iPad with Face ID pic.twitter.com/9TvP2vsP6X
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) July 3, 2018
The existence of an ‘Optimized for iPad’ build of AvatarKit in iOS 12 beta — and that the software relies exclusively on Apple’s TrueDepth camera to render 3D animations — is yet another hint that the company is readying an all-new iPad Pro model equipped with components capable of carrying out Animoji, Face ID and much more.
2018 iPad Pro Rumors
Preliminary reports of a next-gen iPhone X-inspired iPad Pro device featuring a TrueDepth camera, nearly edge-to-edge display and significantly upgraded internal components surfaced earlier this year courtesy of multiple industry sources, including Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman—whose predictions went on to be corroborated by the former KGI Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo is now an analyst for TF International Securities.
The device, which was rumored for a WWDC 2018 announcement but is now speculated to arrive sometime in the fall, will feature ultra-thin bezels, an advanced Apple GPU, A11 or A12 CPU boasting an ‘Octa’ (eight-core) architecture and ‘the notch’ — complete with a TrueDepth camera enabling Face ID biometric security, Animoji and more on the redesigned tablet.
In the months following these original rumors, other reports surfaced out of the Far East — including a March 2018 article from Korea’s Economic Daily News which suggested the new iPad Pro model would boast an 11-inch display — potentially allowing the company to retain the size and dimensions of its current 10.5 iPad Pro while stretching the display even further across the front panel.
While both Gurman and Kuo had initially suggested we could see this vastly redesigned iPad Pro model debut at WWDC last month, the event came and went without mention of any upcoming Apple product releases.
Both analysts have since updated their guidance, suggesting in their most recent analysis that the new iPad Pro model will more than likely debut this fall — either alongside the company’s highly-anticipated 2018 iPhone lineup, or at a separate media event thereafter.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
