Oliver Haslam on October 9, 2018, 8:19 pm

2018 iPad Pro Face ID, 4K HDR External Output Via USB-C, Apple Pencil 2 Details Leak Out

Apple may have gotten its new 2018 iPhones and Apple Watch out the door, although we’re still waiting for the iPhone XR, but there is still expected to be another Apple vent before the year comes to a close.

The smart money is on that event happening at some point this month, with new iPad Pros very much the center of attention although new Macs have also been rumored. New information about those iPad Pros has today been made available thanks to the infamous “sources familiar with the development” of the new devices.

Much of what the new sources say corroborates what we had already suspected or gleaned from iOS 12.1 beta software, but it’s always good to flesh these things out a little. With that said, let’s take a look at the highlights.

Face ID

Just as has been rumored for months, the new iPad Pro tablets will indeed have Face ID built in and yes, they will work perfectly fine in both landscape and portrait although, interestingly, not upside down. We now also have further rumors that there will be no notch on the iPad.

External displays

Just as has been suggested by Steve Troughton-Smith, Apple will apparently be giving iPad Pro users a way to output 4K HDR content to external monitors via USB-C, with a new entry in the Settings app playing host to the resolution and brightness options available once a secondary display has been attached.

Apple Pencil

There will be a whole new Apple Pencil launched for the new iPad Pro, with no need to physically connect the two in order to pair them. Instead, a proximity setup similar to that used by AirPods and HomePod will be employed. This makes us wonder whether the new Apple Pencil will work with older iPad Pros or indeed whether older Apple Pencils will work with the new tablets.

Magnetic Connector

A new magnetic connector will be part of the updated iPad Pro lineup, specifically designed for attaching accessories. The new connector will be on the back of the iPad and will be used for things like keyboards and other third-party accessories.

Multiple models

This is an interesting one, with the model numbers suggesting that we will see two iPad Pros in two size options for both WiFi and cellular configurations. The model numbers for the WiFi models of the new iPad Pro will be iPad8,1, iPad8,2, iPad8,5 and iPad8,6. Meanwhile, the cellular models will be iPad8,3, iPad8,4 and iPad8,7 and iPad8,8.

(Source: 9to5Mac)