With the beta version of the future iOS in circulation, the technical capabilities of the next hardware generation can be deduced. Now a developer in iOS 12 sees a new iPad with Face ID confirmed because the libraries of AvatarKit should be in the iOS 12 firmware for the iPad. No Animoji without AvatarKit. No AvatarKit without the TrueDepth camera. The iPad with Face ID is in the reverse shot.
Steve Troughton-Smith reports his discovery in the depths of iOS 12 for iPad firmware. This includes the framework of AvatarKit, which was previously only available on iPhone X. In his opinion, the availability of the AvatarKit on the iPad indicates that a future iPad with a TrueDepth camera will be technically comparable to the one with which the history recognition for Face ID can be performed.
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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
Alvaro Pabesio visualizes what this iPad could look like on the creative platform Behance.net. Thanks to Face ID, touch ID could be dispensed with. As a result, a narrow-frame design would be possible in which the TrueDepth camera could be housed. In addition, an Apple-owned GPU could power the new iPad Pro with an 11-inch display. This would allow a larger screen with virtually identical dimensions of the current 9.7-inch model, MacRumors sums up the state of affairs.
The iPad Pro with Face ID would remain usable with the gestures Apple has introduced for iPhone X. These have also been found in iOS 12 for iPad.
If Apple is preparing this portfolio, the launch of an iPad Pro with Face ID in September 2018 along with three new iPhone models and the release of iOS 12 would indeed be in the realm of possibilities.