For as hard as Apple works to prevent third-parties from releasing information about upcoming products, some of the biggest Apple product leaks we’ve seen in recent months have come from Apple itself. The most recent example comes in the form of a new iPad icon found within the recently released iOS 12 beta.
Originally spotted by 9to5Mac, the new iPad icon features a design with thinner bezels and no home button. This of course shouldn’t come as much of a surprise amid reports that Apple is planning to introduce two new iPad Pro models this fall with support for Face ID. Consequently, the home button — much like it was on the iPhone X — will reportedly be kicked to the curb.
The new icon can be seen below on the right-hand side.
Now you may have noticed that the new iPad icon illustrated above doesn’t feature a notch, thus suggesting that the device’s TrueDepth camera system will be located in the top bezel. This isn’t all that surprising given that the huge display offered up by the iPad’s larger form factor obviates the need for an edgeless display a’la the iPhone X. Indeed, with no home buttons and thinner bezels all around, the iPad Pro will offer up a huge display inside of a more compact form factor.
Aside from the inclusion of Face ID, there are rumors that Apple’s forthcoming iPad Pro lineup will also do away with the 3.5mm headphone jack, once again taking a design cue from the iPhone. Though the removal of the tried and true headphone jack was incredibly controversial when Apple released the iPhone 7 back in 2016, it appears that the bulk of the blowback has since subsided.
As far as a release date is concerned, it’s probably a safe best that Apple will introduce new iPad models sometime in September or October as to take advantage of the busy holiday shopping season.
