Apple's Face ID-equipped iPad Pros likely ready for production, shipping late next quarter...
Anticipated iPad Pro upgrades should be on the verge of mass production, but may only hit doorsteps late in the June quarter, an analyst claimed in an investor memo obtained by AppleInsider.
The company is likely to ship about 6 to 8 million updated Pros in that period, said Rosenblatt Securities' Jun Zhang. The company is expected to update its 10.5- and 12.9-inch Pros with front-facing TrueDepth cameras, enabling Face ID, animoji, and other 3D-sensing technologies.
International regulatory filings recently indicated that Apple is preparing to sell two new iPad models in the near future. In fact Zhang's projected ship window may be too far out if the company already has legal approvals.
It's difficult to say for certain when Apple will ship, however. The first 12.9-inch iPad Pro arrived in November 2015, followed by the 9.7-inch model in March 2016. Both second-generation Pros debuted in June last year.
Third-gen tablets could sport eight-core "A11X" processors, stepping up from the six-core A11 chips in the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X. Switching to Face ID may also let Apple reduce weight and bezels even further, though Apple is unlikely to use edge-to-edge OLED screens like the one on the iPhone X, given the cost and difficulty of scaling to the size of an iPad.
The company is likely to ship about 6 to 8 million updated Pros in that period, said Rosenblatt Securities' Jun Zhang. The company is expected to update its 10.5- and 12.9-inch Pros with front-facing TrueDepth cameras, enabling Face ID, animoji, and other 3D-sensing technologies.
International regulatory filings recently indicated that Apple is preparing to sell two new iPad models in the near future. In fact Zhang's projected ship window may be too far out if the company already has legal approvals.
It's difficult to say for certain when Apple will ship, however. The first 12.9-inch iPad Pro arrived in November 2015, followed by the 9.7-inch model in March 2016. Both second-generation Pros debuted in June last year.
Third-gen tablets could sport eight-core "A11X" processors, stepping up from the six-core A11 chips in the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X. Switching to Face ID may also let Apple reduce weight and bezels even further, though Apple is unlikely to use edge-to-edge OLED screens like the one on the iPhone X, given the cost and difficulty of scaling to the size of an iPad.
Comments
I have never been happy with TouchID on my iPad Pros. No matter how many times I set it up it didn’t recognize my finger for long. Now I just enter my passcode by default, I don’t even bother with TouchID. That is not the experience I had with any of my iPhones where TouchID worked (for the most part, I think Face ID works more often than TouchID did).
The tech used in this accessory (camera & software) was developed by PrimeSense. PrimeSense tech was also used in the MS Xbox 360 Kinect.
PrimeSense was acquired by Apple in 2013 and the TrueDepth tech was used to create FaceID on the iPhone X.
For visual looks, you'd think the camera would be at the top of the iPad when held vertically, like a piece of paper.
But for all the Pro users out there using keyboards, having it not work in horizontal mode seems like a major flaw.
And if Apple could have made FaceID work in both orientations, then why doesn't the iPhone X already work this way?
Eager to find out what Apple's solution to this is.
I have a lot of interest in this new iPad since the destruction of my old one and frankly have waited for FaceID support. On thing that is obvious is that initial software support doesnt imply final functionality. On my Windows machine initial visual ID support sucked but now it work pretty good and is as fast if faster than typing in a password.
As for the physical implementation im not the least bit worried about how Apple does it. Notch or not i believe the feature is far more useful than many want to admit.
Oh one last thing orientation doesnt really matter. Apple can rotate the pixel cloud in software if it wants. They have ither options including having you take snaps at different rotations or using multiple sensors. They likely have other options and probably have already tested them all.
There’s likely something I’m unaware of but if it was easy for Apple to implement a rotation via software then why wasn’t that included in iPhone X when it shipped?
I use my iPad flat on a table, resting on the Apple leather sleeve. Use the onscreen keyboard, Pencil occasionally. No other keyboard cases or accessories. Hardware things that nag me:
1. In landscape, the onscreen keyboard could use another 0.75” of width for another column of keys, like escape, FN, command, alt/option keys on the left, and arrow keys on the right.
2. When the onscreen keyboard is out, especially with Split View, the apps get too small. Would like more vertical space.
3. Fingerprint, fingerprints, fingerprints, fingerprints.
So if the new ones have an iPhone X style industrial design, they could squeeze in an ultra-oleophobic 12” display, with say a 5:4 aspect ratio, in about the same footprint, I’d be sorely tempted to trade in.
In any event my wishful thinking:
1.
FaceID. Im really liking this tech.
2.
The new A11X. Unlike this article im more interested in seeing expanded AI processing hardware instead of more cores. I really want to see IOS move to more Knowledge Navigator type bejavior with more if Siri running locally. This will require more performsnce from the AI hardware. The general CPU requirements can be improved with larger caches and clock rates. I just do see CPU performance as a critical area right now.
3.
Further GPU improvements including compute capabilitues. Im not sure it is even possible to have too much GPU performance.
4.
a dedicated power in port. The primary goal here is to support a snap on solar charging case. Either that or Apple offers an iPad upsell model with built in solar charging. In any event iPad, with its large area back, is ideal for solar charge supplementation. However you really want this via a dedicated port or built in. By the way yes i realize there isnt enough area for a fast recharge but that isnt the point here.
5.
more RAM and secondary storage. It would be nice to see 4GB or more RAM. The surprise here is that im not worried about most Apps! What im hoping for is explotation by the system including more of Siri running locally. As for secondary storage whom out there can claim having enough SSD.
6.
support the FM radio. More so support weather / emergency radio. More so teach Siri to monitor the various resources for weather alerts in the local area. In other words Siri should be able to interrupt whatever and tell you a tornado is coming your way.
7.
Switch to USB-C. USB-C just makes more sense in the tablet workd.
8.
more water proofing.
9.
camera improvements. Id like to see a real zoom. Multiple focal length Cameras would do though. Frankly id rather see Apple give up some thickness to support one high quality sensor and optical system. A thicker camera bump would likely cause some frustration but if we got real value out of it i suspect people would go for it. Better value would be lower light capability and say a 4X zoom.
Ok almost ten wishes, what do people think?