New iPad to Feature Facial Recognition, Custom GPU
Apple's next iPad will incorporates key iPhone X features such as slimmer edges and facial recognition.
A new iPad model with a screen size similar to the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is planned to include Face ID for unlocking the device, making payments, and sending animated emojis, according to this report.
However, the new version of the tablet is unlikely to include an OLED screen. Samsung Electronics, which supplies OLED panels for iPhones, would be the only display maker with the capacity to produce the new screens for iPads in 2018, but technical and financial constraints still make that unlikely.
Like the iPhone X, the new iPad is also expected to include a faster processor and a custom Apple graphics processing unit. Apple is also preparing a new version of its Apple Pencil stylus and new software tools for using the stylus.
Face ID would replace the iPad home button that has come with a fingerprint scanner since 2014. The updated tablet is expected to be released later next year.
Apple reported last week that iPad revenue rose 14 percent to $4.8 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, with an 11 percent increase in the number of units sold.