Apple May Have Accidentally Leaked New Tablet Is Almost Here

There were no new iPads in 2023, but it looks like Apple is about to make it up to us this year. And a new report suggests that Apple might have accidentally revealed that a new iPad, likely an iPad Pro, will be unveiled in less than five weeks. Here’s what we’ve learnt.

The clues are coming from the newly released iPhone software beta, iOS 17.4. According to 9to5Mac, the software contains references to a new iPad, and it’s a model that we haven’t seen before.

We know this because it makes reference to a landscape Face ID camera, that is, a camera that sits along the long side of the tablet. With the exception of the tenth-generation iPad, every iPad since 2011 has had a camera on the short edge, in portrait orientation. The very first iPad, released in 2010, had no camera at all.

So, couldn’t this be a hint of a new entry-level iPad? That would be exciting in itself, but it seems unlikely. That’s because there are also references to how the user should set up Face ID, and that’s a feature which is not on the entry level iPad, which uses Touch ID instead. In fact, the iPad Air uses touch ID as well, so unless one or other of those tablets is switching to the more expensive Face ID, all evidence points to a new iPad Pro.

This would be an excellent change. While the Face ID camera being in portrait position is useful enough, since the arrival of the Magic Keyboard, especially, using the iPad in landscape orientation has become much more convenient.

The code says “Face ID needs to be in landscape to learn how to recognize you.” So, this would mean setting it up with the camera at the top of the screen. The code goes on, “Once set up is complete face ID works in portrait and landscape.”

Some of the changes in iOS 17.four are there for users in the European Union, including the introduction of new app marketplace as well as the App Store. These changes are being made to comply with the Digital Markets Act in the EU which comes into force on March 7.

This suggests that the next iPad Pro will be with us in early March. Of course, Apple could delay this, and it wouldn’t be the first time that beta code has suggested something that happens later than the software’s general release, but it’s a good first sign that something new and different is on its way.